In a dramatic move by the Iranian state, 19-year-old Sahar Tabar - who has become known on social media as the 'Zombie Angelina Jolie' - was reportedly released from jail after facing a 10-year sentence.
Teenager Sahar Tabar, whose real name is Fatemeh Khishvand, made headlines after it was reported that she had been sentenced to 10 years in prison in her native country Iran over her social media presence, which involved her sharing photos of her distorted face online.
Per The Guardian, the sentence came one year after Tabar was arrested, eventually being found guilty of the corruption of young people and disrespect for the Islamic Republic. Previous initial charges of blasphemy and inciting violence were later thrown out.
Now, Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist, has revealed that she has spoken to Tabar's lawyer, and despite Sahar's sentence, Tabar has been released following "massive media pressure", with the teenager appearing on TV yesterday (December 17), the MailOnline reports.
Alinejad also shared a tweet that read: "Today the Iranian teenager who posted heavily distorted images of herself online was jailed for 10 years has been freed after massive media pressure."
Speaking to The Sun, Tabar's layer, Saied Dehgan, revealed that she has been freed on bail after serving roughly 15 months of jail time.
Watch - Tabar speaks out following her release from jail:Surrounded by her family, Tabar appeared on Rokna.net, and stated that her Instagram pictures were a sham.
During the apparent apology, the social media star admitted to using a mix of Photoshop and make-up as a "joke" in order to achieve the striking look.
Related - Tabar speaks out during a previous interview on Iranian TV:Tabar first went viral back in 2017 after sharing pictures of her gaunt, discolored, and distorted face on social media - leading to many people and publications dubbing her the 'Zombie Angelina Jolie'.
The New York Post reports that Tamar once claimed to have undergone "50 surgeries", but after amassing upwards of 500,000 followers on Instagram, she later appeared to confirm that she had used digital editing tools and makeup to enhance her bizarre appearance in a post captioned:
"People are probably living in the 18th century and they haven’t seen or heard of technology or make-up and they are really surprised."
Tabar's attorneys had previously tried to secure her release after she became ill with coronavirus while in jail, the BBC reports.
Furthermore, Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad even asked actress Angelina Jolie herself to help the young incarcerated woman.
"Islamic Republic has a history of tormenting women," she said. "We need to be united against this gender apartheid."