Maryam Mohammadi and Asreen Darkaleh Were Released on Bail

On September 18, 2019 Maryam Mohammadi and Asreen Darkaleh, women’s rights activists, were temporarily released on bail.

Maryam Mohammadi was arrested on July 8, 2019 in Garmsar, Semnan Province by security forces and was transferred to a solitary confinement cell at the intelligence department’s detention center in Evin Prison known as the ward 209. She was transferred to women’s ward of Evin Prison after a month in solitary confinement on August 8, 2019. She is 52 years old and a mother to a 16- and a 22-year-old girl. She had been a political prisoner from 1981 to 1989 when she was 14 to 22 years old.

Asreen Darkaleh was born in 1983 and has an 18-year-old child. She was arrested on July 28, 2019 in Garmsar, Semnan Province by security forces and was transferred to a solitary confinement cell at the intelligence department’s detention center in Evin Prison known as the ward 209. She was transferred to women’s ward of Evin Prison a day after Maryam Mohammadi’s transfer. The two are cousins.

Earlier, they were summoned to the Evin Prison’s prosecutor’s office in June after security forces searched her residences and confiscated some of their belongings. They were transferred to Evin Prison in August. Among their charges are “promoting corruption and prostitution”, “establishing and membership in Nedaye Zanane Iran (Iranian women’s call) Group”, “assembly and collusion against the national security”, and “propaganda against the state” for which they are under prosecution at the Branch 2 of the Evin Prison’s prosecutor’s office.

These activists are members of association of Nedaye Zanane Iran (Iranian women’s call) which is a women’s NGO working to empower women and improve the lives of them in Iran. Mohammadi and Darkaleh were also arrested during the International Women’s Day ceremonies in Tehran on March 7, 2019. They gave speeches on subjects such as “women as the core opposition force” and “the 40th anniversary of women movement”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *