Iranian authorities on Wednesday released on bail the prize-winning rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh following her latest arrest last month, her daughter said.
Sotoudeh was arrested at her home on April 1 as part of what activists say is a crackdown on civil society during Iran’s war with Israel and the United States.
“Mum was temporarily released on bail a few hours ago,” her daughter Mehraveh Khandan wrote on Instagram.
Sotoudeh, who has won awards including the 2012 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament and the 2020 Right Livelihood Award, has repeatedly been arrested over her work in the past.
Her husband and Mehraveh’s father, Reza Khandan, has been held in an Iranian prison since December 2024.
It remains unclear what charges Sotoudeh may face. Her release comes after fellow Iranian rights activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was released on bail on Sunday and transferred to Tehran for medical treatment, with supporters saying her life is in danger.
Sotoudeh has for years campaigned on some of the most sensitive issues in the Islamic republic, notably working to prevent the execution of youths convicted of crimes.
She has also won prominence thanks to appearances in film. She made a memorable cameo as a passenger in Jafar Panahi’s 2015 movie “Taxi Tehran”, and was the subject of a warmly received 2020 documentary “Nasrin”.
Rights groups say thousands have been arrested in a crackdown on civil society since the US-Israeli war against Iran began on February 28.
The arrests follow protests across Iran in January in which thousands were killed as security forces suppressed the demonstrations, according to activists.
