Khadijeh Moghadam and her husband Akbar Khosrowshahi as they left Evin Prison in Tehran

(8 April 2009) Prominent women’s rights activist Khadijeh Moghadam, who has been in detention since 26 March 2009, was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on bail at 8:15 pm, local time.

Moghadam and eleven other members of Mothers for Peace and the One Million Signatures Campaign were detained on 26 March 2009 as they sat in their cars at a street corner in Tehran. They were planning to make New Year visits to families of prisoners of conscience. Ten activists were released on bail on 29 March, but Moghadam and Mahboubeh Karami were kept in prison without any explanation.

Karami was released on 7 April, but Moghadam was kept in detention. According to Moghadam’s lawyer Nasim Ghanavi, Moghadam has been charged in another case when Mothers for Peace held a protest against the Israeli attack on Gaza on 11 January 2009 in Tehran. Her prosecution in both cases will continue, though no court dates have been set.

“We welcome the release of Moghadam and Karami, but they should have never been detained in the first place. It is completely unacceptable that any of these activists are being prosecuted for planning to make New Year visits. The new charges against Moghadam for protesting Israeli attacks on Gaza are shocking,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

The Campaign called on the Iranian Judiciary to drop all charges against the twelve activists and to end its persecution and prosecution of women’s rights activists, actions that are in complete violation of Iranian and international laws.