Bahareh Hedayat Temporarily Released on Two Billion Rials Bail with Unspecified Charges
Bahareh Hedayat was released this evening from Qarchak Varamin Prison on bail, while her charges remain unclear. Judiciary officials have remained silent on the matter. The bail amount for this political prisoner is two billion rials, and her release is temporary.
Bahareh Hedayat, a political prisoner and women’s rights activist, was temporarily released this evening on February 18 (29 Bahman), two days after being transferred to Qarchak Varamin Prison, by posting bail.
The bail amount for this student activist’s temporary release has not been officially announced, but some media outlets have reported it to be two billion rials.
Bahareh Hedayat was arrested on Monday, February 10 (21 Bahman) by Tehran Security Police while being summoned by the Security Office of Tehran University, and according to some reports, was transferred to Evin Prison at that time. This fact pointed the finger of accusation at officials of Tehran University’s Security Office for cooperating with security agencies in the arrest and detention of students.
This student activist reported on Tuesday, February 11 (22 Bahman) in contact with her family that she had been arrested and was present at the Evin Prosecutor’s Office. The head of Tehran University’s Security Office stated to ILNA after Ms. Hedayat’s arrest by Security Police that participation in the November 2019 (Aban 98) protests could be one of the reasons for her arrest and detention.
Ms. Hedayat was transferred to Qarchak Varamin Prison on Sunday, February 16 (27 Bahman). She went on a hunger strike before being transferred to this prison and since her arrest by Tehran Security Police and detention at the Ministers’ detention center in Tehran. Qarchak Women’s Prison is compared to Kahrizak Detention Center.
The human rights news agency “Hrana” reported Ms. Hedayat’s condition during the strike as concerning, and according to its sources, she suffered from “low blood pressure and physical weakness.”
Currently, several political and human rights prisoners in Iranian prisons are on hunger strikes. Amir Salar Davudi, lawyer-prisoner, Mohammad Norizad, Barzan Mohammadi, Reza Mohammadhosseini, Mehdi Maskinnavaz, and Khaled Pirzadeh are among those prisoners who have gone on hunger strikes in recent weeks.
Unspecified Charges
Bahareh Hedayat’s release came while her charges have not been officially announced by judiciary authorities. Gholamhossein Esmaili, spokesman for the Judiciary, denied today before journalists that the reason for the arrest of Ms. Hedayat and several other students was related to Iran’s parliamentary elections on February 21.
Earlier, the head of Tehran University’s Security Office had alluded to ILNA that these arrests could be related to nationwide public protests in November 2019 (Aban 98).
Assault Investigation
According to the Young Journalists Club, the Judiciary spokesman also denied today the claim that Bahareh Hedayat was subjected to “assault and battery” during her arrest by Security Police, saying: “If this person has any claim regarding assault and battery, it will be addressed.”
Some friends of Ms. Hedayat had written on Twitter on Monday, February 10 (21 Bahman) that her arrest was accompanied by assault and battery.
Baraheh Hedayat, who has been released from prison for only a few hours, has not yet reacted to the Judiciary spokesman’s statements.
Ms. Hedayat is an activist of the “Campaign for One Million Signatures to Change Discriminatory Laws against Women” in Iran and has been arrested several times. She was arrested during Iran’s 2009 elections and was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, which eventually resulted in her release after serving approximately seven and a half years.
Source: DW
