CP: Iran: Release of Ms. Jinus Sobhani

12/03/2009
Press release

Paris-Geneva, March 12, 2009. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), welcomes the release of Ms. Jinus Sobhani, administrative assistant of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.

On March 11, 2009, Ms. Jinus Sobhani was released from the Evin prison in Tehran, on payment of a bail of 60,000 euros. "This release is a victory of human rights over arbitrariness. Over the past weeks, we have been closely following the case of Jinus and have repeatedly called for her release. However, we denounce the incredibly high amount of the bail, and recall that the DHRC is still arbitrarily closed down. The Observatory will remain definitely mobilized for the reopening of the DHRC" said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.

"Many human rights defenders in Iran are still harassed, threatened, detained, tortured. Kaboudvand, for example, is still detained for the mere reason that he established a human rights NGO in the Kurdish province of Iran. There is therefore still a long way to go", added Eric Sottas, Secretary General of OMCT.

Jinus Sobhani had been arrested on January 14, 2009, following a home search and the seizure of her personal belongings and those of her husband by security officers who had shown no arrest or search warrant. She had been detained without access to her lawyers since then.

For further information, please contact:

Gaël Grilhot / Karine Appy, + 33 6 48 05 91 57 / + 33 1 43 55 14 12

Anne-Laurence Lacroix, + 41 22 809 49 31

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