Women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia and Iran were freed last week. Both women were arrested in October and served around 90 days in prison for their non-violent crimes.
Iranian activist Mahdieh Golroo, who was arrested for attending a gathering in Tehran in protest of acid attacks on several women in Isfahan, was released Tuesday on a bail of about $200,000 USD. Golroo’s confiscated personal items such as a laptop computer and her cell phone were searched by the security forces when they went to her home after her arrest. She spent 45 days in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, known for its detainment and torture of political prisoners. During her time in present, her family could meet with her only in the presence of intelligence agents.
“While it is a welcome development that Mahdieh Golrou is currently out on bail,” Gissou Nia, Deputy Director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, told Global Voices, “her legal process is far from over and her prosecution is part of a broader plan perpetrated by Iranian officials to silence women’s voices.”
Five days after to Golroo’s release, Suad al-Shammari, co-founder of the Saudi Liberal Network, was released from prison in Saudi Arabia. She was arrested for “insulting Islam” by speaking critically about the nation’s clerics and the kingdom’s religious police, who enforce brutal Sharia law. Shammari’s daughter, Sarah al-Rimaly, has said that her mother is “recovering” from “a lack of nutrients” because she depends on a special diet.
Although Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman is granting certain prisoners amnesty, Rimaly claims her mother’s release was unrelated to his decision.
Media Resources: Feminist Newswire 10/18/13, 10/24/14; The Straits Times 2/2/15; BuzzFeed 12/28/15; Global Voices 1/30/15
