She is the most famous personality arrested in connection with the protests. Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti was released on bail on Wednesday, Iranian media reported. Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, had been detained in Evin prison, Tehran, since December 17 after posting several posts on social media displaying her support for the protest movement, including some with photos she was not wearing. veil and condemned the execution of demonstrators.
“My client was released on bail today,” her lawyer Zahra Minooee told the Isna news agency on Wednesday. Photos posted on Twitter show her bareheaded, without a veil, carrying a bouquet of flowers and chatting on the phone, on her release from prison. Other photos show her in a car sticking her tongue out and making the V for victory with her fingers.
“Like all citizens of Iran, she has the right to freedom of expression”
Taraneh Alidoosti is best known for starring in award-winning films by director Asghar Farhadi, including The customerOscar for best foreign language film in 2017. She also starred in Saeed Roustayi’s film Leila and her brotherspresented this year at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Cannes Film Festival welcomed her release in a tweet posting a photo of her without a veil. Nearly 500 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. Emma Thompson, Golshifteh Farahani, Kristen Stewart, Jeremy Irons and Mark Ruffalo among others felt that the timing of his arrest, shortly before Christmas, was to “keep his international colleagues distracted”. “But we are not distracted. We are outraged,” they said in the letter.
Taraneh was arrested for Instagram condemning the execution of Mohsen Shekari, the first protester sentenced to death since nationwide protests began following the brutal police killing of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in September “, they add. “Like all citizens of Iran, she has the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. We stand in solidarity and demand his immediate release,” they said.
Since her arrest, the actress’ Instagram account, followed by more than 8 million people, has remained inaccessible.