The Media Line: Iran Releases Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh on Bail 

Iran Releases Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh on Bail 

By The Media Line Staff 

Iranian authorities temporarily released prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh on bail Wednesday after weeks in custody, according to Iranian media and rights groups, in a case that drew renewed international attention to Tehran’s treatment of dissidents, lawyers, and women’s rights advocates. 

Sotoudeh, one of Iran’s best-known defense attorneys, has represented activists, opposition figures, political prisoners, and women prosecuted for challenging the country’s mandatory hijab laws. Reports said she was freed after bail was posted, but Iranian authorities did not immediately clarify whether she still faces charges or whether restrictions remain in place. 

Nournews, which is affiliated with Iran’s top security body, reported the release without giving details on the legal case against her. Rights groups said the decision did not resolve broader concerns about Iran’s use of security charges and prolonged detention against lawyers and civil society figures. 

Sotoudeh has been arrested and imprisoned several times over her legal and human rights work. She received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2012 and the Right Livelihood Award in 2020. Her cases have long been cited by international rights organizations as examples of pressure on independent lawyers in Iran. 

Her husband, Reza Khandan, an activist who has also campaigned against compulsory hijab rules, remains imprisoned, according to rights groups and Persian-language media. His detention has kept the family at the center of a wider crackdown on Iranian civil society. 

The release came as other prominent Iranian detainees remain under close scrutiny. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who is imprisoned in Iran, was recently transferred to a Tehran hospital after being granted a suspension of her sentence on heavy bail, according to a foundation run by her family. 

Iran has intensified pressure on political activists, journalists, lawyers, and women’s rights defenders during the conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the US, with rights groups warning that wartime conditions have reduced outside visibility into detainees’ cases.