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German-Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Released from Iranian Prison

09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
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German-Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Released from Iranian Prison

09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)

Nahid Taghavi, an Iranian-German women's rights activist, has been released from prison and is back in Germany after more than four years incarceration in Iran, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The release of Taghavi followed concerns about the 70-year-old's health and calls from rights groups on the German government to pressure Tehran on the case.

Taghavi was detained in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison for her alleged involvement in an illegal group and for propaganda against the state. Amnesty called the charges fabricated

"My mum is finally home. Words are not enough to describe our joy. At the same time, we mourn the four years we were robbed of and the horror she experienced in Evin prison," her daughter Mariam Claren said in a statement.

The rights group said Taghavi was tortured during her time in prison and held in solitary confinement.

The activist landed safely in Germany on Sunday, Amnesty said, calling for many more releases to follow in Iran.

Iran's judiciary was not immediately available for comment.

"A great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a post on X.

Germany has clashed with Iran in the past over its jailing of dual citizens and criticized its human rights record. In October, Berlin recalled its ambassador to Iran over the execution of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd.

Last week Iran freed Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, three weeks after she was detained in Tehran during a reporting trip.

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Philippines Alarmed after China Sends ‘Monster Ship’ to Disputed Shoal

This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
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Philippines Alarmed after China Sends ‘Monster Ship’ to Disputed Shoal

This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

The Philippines accused China on Tuesday of intimidating its fishermen at a disputed South China Sea shoal, and normalizing an "illegal presence", after Beijing sent its largest coast guard vessel into Manila's maritime zone.

The move comes against the backdrop of rising tension between the Philippines, a US treaty ally, and Beijing during the past two years, stemming from their overlapping claims in the busy waterway of the South China Sea.

The Philippines has protested this month against the entry of Chinese vessels in its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including the 165-m (541-ft) -long ship 5901, last spotted 77 nautical miles off the western province of Zambales.

Jonathan Malaya, a spokesperson for the Philippines' National Security Council, reiterated a call for Beijing to withdraw from Manila's waters the "monster ship" he said was deployed to intimidate its fishermen around Scarborough Shoal.

"We were surprised about the increasing aggression being showed by the People's Republic of China in deploying the monster ship," Malaya told a press conference.

"It is an escalation and provocative," Malaya added, calling the presence of the vessel "illegal" and "unacceptable".

"It is also a clear attempt to intimidate our fishermen and deprive them of their legitimate livelihood."

China's embassy in Manila said the shoal, which it calls "Huangyan Dao", is China's territory, and its actions are in "full accordance with the law".

"It is fully justified," the embassy said in a statement.

Since China seized the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippines, its coast guard ships have maintained a constant presence to patrol the area.

But China's recent actions have become more concerning because its coast guard vessels moved closer to the Philippine coast, Malaya added.

The Philippine coast guard said it had sent two of its largest vessels to drive away the ship whose presence, its spokesperson said, aimed to normalize China's "illegal deployment" of coast guard vessels in Manila's EEZ.

China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, a strategic shipping conduit for about $3 trillion of annual commerce, overlap with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In 2016, an international tribunal ruled China's claims to large swathes of the disputed waterway had no basis, a decision Beijing rejects.