In the evening of July 1, 2010, Ms. Nargess Mohammadi was released on a 50,000 dollars bail. She had been arrested at her home on June 10, 2010, and had been detained in Evin prison since then. However, the charges against her remain pending. No further information could be obtained regarding the nature of those charges.
The Observatory welcomes Ms. Mohammadi’s release, which intervenes a few days after the release of Mr. Emad Baghi, founder of the Society for the Defence of Prisoners’ Rights and laureate of the 2009 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, on a bail of about 200,000 dollars, and thanks all the persons, institutions and organisations who have intervened in her favour.
The Observatory however condemns the excessive amount of the bail requested for her release as well as the ongoing judicial harassment against her, and further denounces the ongoing arbitrary detention of dozens of human rights defenders in Iran, amid the current general crackdown on the Iranian civil society.
The Observatory generally urges the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders presently detained in the country, to guarantee in all circumstances their physical and psychological integrity, and to conform with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.