Iranian journalist's wife released on 300 million IDR bail

Saeed Seif, journalist and director of the Iran Watch website, announced the release of his wife, Asal Esmaeilzadeh, on bail of 300 million tomans.

Mr. Seif wrote this news on Twitter on Monday, July 3, and thanked some people, including members of parliament.

He announced on June 20 that the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office summoned him for explanations, but after he went to the prosecutor's office, the judge issued an arrest warrant for his wife, who had gone to the prosecutor's office with him.

Mr. Seif also wrote on his Twitter that the prosecutor of Branch 2 of the Prosecutor's Office had asked him to falsely confess to things against the Rouhani government, but he refused. He had asked some representatives, including Ali Motahari and Mahmoud Sadeghi, for help in freeing his wife.

Asal Esmaeil Zadeh, a media activist, photojournalist, and Mr. Seif's wife, was also arrested by security forces in 2011 and sentenced to four months of imprisonment and eight months of suspended sentence by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges of propaganda against the system and society and collusion with the intention of acting against national security. She was released after serving her sentence.

He has not been very active in the media in recent years.

Mr. Seif told ILNA: "I was a defendant in my own case, but when my wife and I went to the prosecutor's office, the judge in the case issued an arrest warrant for my wife, Asal Esmaeilzadeh."

The reason for Ms. Esmailzadeh's arrest has not yet been announced.

Ms. Esmailzadeh's release came a day after Hassan Rouhani criticized the arrest and summoning of individuals without evidence at a judiciary conference.

Source: Voice of America