Iranian women’s rights activist, lawyer, and journalist Shadi Sadr was released from prison yesterday, eleven days after she was beaten and arrested while walking to a prayer service in Tehran. Her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, announced that Sadr was released on bail for approximately 50,000 US dollars, reports Iran Human Rights.
Sadr was one of 140 prisoners released from Tehran’s Evin prison on bail Tuesday, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. The mass release of detainees came after judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi announced Monday that prisoners without major charges filed against them would be released on bail within a week. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also announced that he was closing Kahrizak prison, where human rights groups claim at least three detainees have died, reports the Associated Press. About 150 political prisoners remain in jail in Iran.
Sadr was arrested on July 17 when several men approached and seized her without displaying a warrant. Witnesses reported that the men beat Sadr with batons when she tried to escape before forcing her into a waiting car. Sadr is the founder of the Iranian women’s activism website Women in Iran, and is a member of the activist group Women’s Field. Before her arrest, she had been acting as the defense lawyer for jailed activist Shiva Nazar Ahari.
