Nazak Afshar Released on 500 Million Toman Bail

The official news agency of the judiciary, Mizan, reported that Nazak Afshar, a former employee of the cultural section of the French embassy in Tehran, who was arrested upon her return to Iran last Esfand, was released from prison on Sunday, 5th Ordibehesht. The news agency did not specify whether her release is permanent or temporary on bail. However, the analytical news website Zeytoon reported in an exclusive article that Ms. Afshar's release was granted on a bail of 500 million tomans, pending the issuance of a review decision and the finalization of the ruling. Earlier, the Khabar website, close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, reported that Abolqasem Salavati, the head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, had ordered Ms. Afshar's release on a 500 million toman bail, but she had not been released due to 'administrative delays' and was transferred to the women's ward of Evin prison. Both Khabar and Zeytoon websites had also reported hours before the announcement of Ms. Afshar's release that she had been sentenced to six years of imprisonment in a court presided over by Judge Salavati. Nazak Afshar was arrested at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on 23rd Esfand while returning to Iran. According to reports, she traveled to Iran due to her mother's illness, from which doctors had 'given up hope.' Ms. Afshar's mother intended to travel to France in 1393 but her passport was confiscated and she was banned from leaving the country at that time. Nazak Afshar, who holds dual Iranian-French citizenship, had previously been arrested in the summer of 1388 and released after a few days through the efforts of the French government. She had appeared for a short time in one of the mass trials of protesters against the results of the presidential election in Khordad 1388, but no indictment was read against her. Previously, Abbas Bakhtiari, the director of the Pouya Cultural Center in Paris, had reported in an interview with Radio Farda that Ms. Afshar had 'fainted at the prison gate' during her transfer to Evin prison. The Khabar website also reported that Nazak Afshar's health condition in the women's ward of Evin prison is 'critical,' and 'continuous fainting and coma' have raised concerns among her political prisoners and family members.