@Before annotation being ignored by kotlin in espresso test?

I have this instrumented test class written in kotlin and uses espresso to execute the tests. When I run it though, the function annotated with @Before is being completely ignored. Even when debugging the test and placing a breakpoint in it, it wouldn't pass through that point. Do you have any idea why this happens? I've been searching in google but most examples don't use @Before or simply don't mention any problem with it. I also added the logOut() function for more information.

PD: writing the same code in java works perfectly.

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class)

class LoginTest {

    @get: Rule val activityTestRule = ActivityTestRule(SplashActivity_::class.java)

    private lateinit var user: User

    @Before fun setUp() {
        logOut()
    }

    @Test fun newUserWasLoggedIn() {
        givenAnUser(UserFactory.randomUser)
        itCanBeLoggedAsNewUser()
    }

    @Test fun oldUserWasLoggedIn() {
        givenAnUser(UserFactory.oldUser)
        itCanBeLoggedAsOldUser()
    }

    private fun itCanBeLoggedAsOldUser() {
        oldUserLogin(user)
    }

    private fun itCanBeLoggedAsNewUser() {
        newUserLogin(user)
    }

    private fun givenAnUser(user: User) {
        this.user = user
    }
}

.

fun logOut() {
    goToSettingsView()
    settingsView {
        swipe(SwipeDirection.UP)
        logOutButton.click()
        if (isPasswordRequired()) {
            createNewPasswordInDialog()
            logOutButton.click()
        }
        buttonAccept.click()
    }
}