Iranian women’s rights activist and journalist Shiva Nazar Ahari was released from the notorious Evin Prison yesterday on approximately $500,000 bail. Ahari had been held since December 2009 on a number of charges, including “waging war against God,” according to Radio Free Europe.
Ahari was arrested while traveling to attend the funeral of dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. According to Reuters, an Iranian opposition website reported that, while in prison, Ahari has spent more than 100 days in solitary confinement.
Ahari was also arrested in June 2009 shortly after the controversial reelection of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. She was released on bail after three months. Her former lawyer, Shadi Sadr, was beaten and arrested in July 2009 by plainclothes police officers as part of the government crackdown on dissidents. It is believed that Sadr and Ahari were held in the same ward at Evin Prison until Sadr was released on approximately $50,000 bail eleven days after her arrest.
