Tehran grants early release to leading activist in fight against the mandatory veil

Vida Movahedi had been sentenced to one year in prison for having taken the hijab off in public. On May 26, the authorities communicated the commutation of the sentence and the release order. During the trial she reaffirmed her opposition to the veil and the right to "civil revolt".

Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Iranian authorities have granted early release Vida Movahedi, one of the women symbol of the protest against the mandatory veil in the Islamic Republic.

According to defense lawyer Payam Derafshan, the young woman, sentenced to one year for having taken off her hijab in public, on the evening of May 26 "was summoned by the prison authorities" who communicated to her "the commutation of the sentence and that she was free to leave ”.

Movahedi, 20, was arrested last October for showing up with her head uncovered (pictured) in the central Enghelab square [Revolution, in Persian], waving the veil with her arm and some red balloons. The judges indicted her for encouraging "corruption and debauchery".

During the court hearing the young woman reaffirmed her own "opposition to the mandatory Islamic veil" and wanted to express her opinion in the form of a "civil uprising".

Movahedi, the mother of a two-year-old girl, had already promoted public protests in late December 2017 in central Tehran, becoming the face and symbol of a struggle forcibly repressed by the authorities. And like dozens of other women she was detained by authorities, who ordered their arrest.

The veil became mandatory in Iran following the rise to power of the ayatollahs with the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The fight against the law making it obligatory is not a recent phenomenon, but since the beginning of last year the movement taken on new impetus and visibility.

Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, famous for defending several women arrested between December 2017 and January 2018 for removing the hijab in public like Movahedi herself, has been in jail since June 2018 for a sentence of five years in prison. Among the accusations, that of "espionage". In recent weeks, her husband has reported that the activist received a further sentence of 10 years "for incitement to debauchery".