CNN
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An Iranian doctor and rights activist has been released from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, a week after photos of him in a badly emaciated state surfaced on social media.
Farhad Meysami was released from prison on Friday, according to Iran’s pro-reform news outlet, the Shargh Daily. News of his release came when France announced that French-Iranian scholar Fariba Adelka had also been released from Evin.
Meysami was jailed in 2018 after expressing support for women protesting mandatory hijab laws. He was charged with “assembling and conspiring against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” According to the Iran-focused group Human Rights Activists (HRANA).
Images showing his frail body, protruding bones and shaved head sparked outrage on social media when they were released last week. said he weighed 52 kilograms (115 pounds) and was “beaten for resisting” being transferred to another prison.
The text of the letter, allegedly written by Maysami and provided to CNN by attorney Mohammad Mogimi, states that Maysami protested the execution of prisoners, called for the release of several protesters, and launched a hunger strike to demand an end to the execution. was shown to have been performed. About the compulsory hijab law. CNN was unable to verify the authenticity of the letter.
Last Friday, state media denied the activist had been on a hunger strike after Maysami’s images circulated online and said he was in “good condition.”
News of Meysami and Adelkhah’s release came after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei issued an amnesty covering a number of prisoners on Sunday.
For amnesty, arrested during recent anti-government demonstrations According to HRANA, it has taken the country by storm since last fall.
Nationwide dissent erupted late last year as decades of anguish over the regime’s treatment of women and other issues boiled over after the death of 22-year-old Masa Amini in custody of the country’s moral police. Did.
Authorities have violently cracked down on the months-long movement, which has posed one of the biggest domestic threats to Iran’s ruling clerical government for more than a decade.
CNN has reached out to the Iranian government for comment on Maysami’s release.
For decades, Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran’s capital, has held political prisoners and dual citizens not officially recognized by Iran.
Meysami’s release came when the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Fariba Adelkhah, a French-Iranian scholar, had also been released from Evin.
“France is delighted with the release tonight of Madame Faribah Adelkar, a researcher at the International Research Center of Science Po, who was unjustly detained in Iran’s Evin Prison,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday. rice field.
It added that it was “essential” for Adelka to be able to restore all her freedoms “including returning to France if she wishes.”
According to Sciences Po’s official website, Adelkhah was arrested in Iran on June 5, 2019, along with her colleague and research associate Roland Marchal.
Adelkhah was accused of “propaganda against the political system of the Islamic Republic” and “conspiracy to undermine national security.”
Martial was released on March 20, 2020, while Adelkar served a five-year prison sentence on May 16, 2020.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called Adelker’s release “great joy” in a tweet Friday night.
Matthias Vischera, dean of the French university Science Po, also tweeted: “How happy and relieved to know that our friend and colleague Fariba Adelka has been confirmed released.” replied.
France reiterated its demand for the “immediate release” of all French people arbitrarily detained by Iran, and the foreign minister called on Iranian counterparts to immediately release seven French “hostages”.
A foreign ministry spokesman said it was “extremely concerned” about the health of French national Benjamin Briere and French-Irish Bernard Ferrand in particular.
“This politics of state hostages carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran should be condemned and cannot contribute to the serious deterioration of our bilateral relations, such as those between Iran and Europe,” the spokesman said Thursday. It is clear that we will not get
