Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti has been released on bail after three weeks in detention for supporting protests in Iran, her lawyer Zahra Minooee announced on Wednesday (January 4th) to the ISNA news agency.
The imprisonment of the actress, known on the international scene for having played, among other things, in films by director Asghar Farhadi, whose The customer (2016), caused a wave of indignation in the film industry. She also starred in Saeed Roustayi’s film, Leila and her brotherspresented this year at the Cannes Film Festival.
Iran is rocked by protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after she was arrested by vice squad for violating the Islamic Republic’s “strict dress code”. Iranian officials say hundreds of people have been killed in the unrest, including members of the security forces, and thousands more arrested.
The world of solidarity cinema
Mme Alidoosti, 38, had been detained in Tehran since December 17 after posting at least three posts in support of the protests on Instagram, before her account was deactivated. In some messages, she removed her veil and condemned the execution of several demonstrators.
“What joy and relief! Let’s stay involved! »reacted Wednesday the Cannes Film Festival on Twitter after the announcement of the release of the actress. Nearly five hundred personalities and workers from the world of cinema, such as the French actress Marion Cotillard or the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, had called in December, in an open letter, for his immediate release.
The actress is the most famous personality to have been arrested for supporting the protests. The summary trials of the demonstrators continue, without the independent lawyers chosen by the families being able to intervene. Two men, Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari, were hanged in early December. At least eleven people arrested have already been sentenced to death, and around sixty others risk the same fate.
Jail sentences for Iranians arrested for opposing the Islamic Republic or taking to the streets are heavy: free internet activist Amir Emad Mirmirani, known as ‘Jadi’, was sentenced in the first instance to five years in prison for his tweets against Internet censorship.