Fleeing years of repression by Iran's theocratic authorities after having written several articles denouncing misogyny, Majidi made the perilous Mediterranean crossing to make landfall in Calabria, southern Italy on December 31, 2023.

The next day, she was arrested for aiding illegal immigration, a crime that risks six to 16 years in prison, on the basis of testimonies from two fellow migrants that were later withdrawn.

Her detention drew an outcry, with her backers including Amnesty International judging her to be a victim of far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's clampdown on irregular migration.

Majidi was freed on October 22, 2024, but was still waiting for the tribunal to clear her name.

According to media reports, the Crotone court in southern Italy acquitted her of the people smuggling charges, after the captain of the rickety vessel she and nearly 80 others were crammed into testified in her defence.

She has previously indicated that she hopes to join her brother in Germany when her case would be dismissed.

Born in 1996 in the Iranian province of Kurdistan, Majidi studied theatre and sociology at university.

She helped organise demonstrations in the wake of the 2022 death in Iranian police custody of her fellow Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini.

Prime Minister Meloni has vowed to stop boat arrivals, including taking a tough line on traffickers organising crossings from north Africa.