Iranian authorities have released human rights defender Jinous Sobhani on bail. Sobhani had previously worked at the Tehran office of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, run by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Further Information

Front Line reported on January 19, 2009 that Jinous Sobhani was reportedly taken from her home in Tehran by Iranian judiciary security personnel. Her computer case, her mobile phone and her address book were all confiscated. Both human rights organisations for which Jinous Sobhani worked, Defenders of Human Rights and the Organisation for Defending Mine Victims, were closed down by the Iranian authorities in December 2009.

Front Line understands that Jinous Sobhani was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on Wednesday, after posting a 70 million toman [about 70,000 dollar] bail and that her arrest was in connection with her work for the Center for the Defense of Human Rights and also because she is a Baha’i, although neither of these is a crime, and no other charge [against her] has yet been announced.

According to sources, no date has been set for a possible court hearing. Court officials have not yet accepted legal representation for Sobhani, nor have they allowed her lawyers access to her file.