Aida Shakeri Released from Prison After Posting Bail

Aida Shakeri, the sister of Nika Shakeri, a teenage protester killed during the crackdown on nationwide protests in 2022, has been released on bail. According to Fatemeh Heydari, a plaintiff from the 2022 protests, Aida Shakeri was detained during the recent crackdown on women's optional hijab by government agents and was released from Qarchak prison on Tuesday, April 23. Aida Shakeri was violently arrested on April 17 during a confrontation between Islamic Republic agents and women under the pretext of the 'Noor Plan.' Nasrin Shakeri described her daughter's arrest on Instagram, stating that during the arrest, agents dragged Aida 'brutally on the asphalt,' while Aida cried out, 'What do you want from us? You killed my sister Nika. You have ruined our lives. What more do you want?' Since April 14, the Islamic Republic has deployed its police and plainclothes forces in various cities across Iran under the 'Noor Plan' to enforce the hijab, but despite widespread arrests, civil resistance continues. In response to the increasing pressure on women in Iran by the government, Robert Gilchrist, a senior official in the U.S. Department of State's Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, expressed concern on Monday, April 3, about the deteriorating human rights record of the Islamic Republic in 2023. The continued imposition of mandatory hijab and the defense of morality police; citizens' disobedience continues. A U.S. State Department official told Voice of America: 'The human rights situation in Iran, especially for women, has worsened.' The U.S. State Department report indicates that the human rights situation in Iran has deteriorated in 2023. The blocking of 21 popular Instagram pages; restrictions on individual freedoms in Iran are intensifying. Sadiqah Voseqi's message from Evin: The Islamic Republic has no valid justification for its 'ridiculous mandatory hijab policy.'