Two Female Protesters Against Mandatory Hijab Released from Prison

Narges Hosseini and Azam Jangrooi, two protesters against the mandatory hijab, known as the "Girls of Revolution Street," who were recently arrested, were released on Saturday, February 17. The Telegram channel Emtead reported that Azam Jangrooi, who was arrested last Thursday after a public protest against the mandatory hijab, has been released. This report, citing Sara Jangrooi, a relative of Azam Jangrooi, does not provide further details. The Telegram channel also published a picture of Narges Hosseini, known as the "second girl of Revolution Street," stating that she was also released on Saturday. Several journalists and civil activists in Iran shared images of Narges Hosseini's release on their Twitter accounts. Reports regarding the release of these two protesters did not mention the amount of bail or conditions set for them. Previously, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Narges Hosseini's lawyer, announced that her client's bail had been reduced from 500 million tomans to 60 million tomans, allowing for her release. Public protests against the mandatory hijab began in December with the release of a video showing a young woman protesting the mandatory hijab on Revolution Street, identified as Vida Mohammadi. Narges Hosseini was the second girl to protest against the mandatory hijab on a platform in Tehran's Revolution Street. Shortly after, she went back to the same platform, hung her headscarf on a stick, and waved it. Meanwhile, other photos and videos of public protests against the mandatory hijab were released, and Tehran police reported on February 1 that 29 individuals had been arrested for removing their headscarves in public. On Thursday, February 15, a short video and photos of the arrest of a protester against the mandatory hijab were released, showing police officers pulling the young protester down from an electric pole. Subsequently, this protesting woman was identified on social media as Azam Jangrooi, and an image of her last Instagram post shows that she began her political activities with the Reformist Women's Assembly and the Kargozaran Party but became tired of this process, emphasizing that "enough slogans already." She stated that her action was "not related to any organization, group, or individual, either inside or outside Iran" and was done "to confront the mandatory hijab." In response to the manner of Azam Jangrooi's arrest, Nahid Khodakarami, a member of the Tehran City Council, tweeted: "I was saddened to see the video from Revolution Street today. Why have Azams chosen this method of protest? How did that officer allow himself to treat a young girl this way under the pretext of not adhering to hijab? What is her greater sin? Azam Jangrooi's hair or that man's hands?" In another tweet, she emphasized that "the least right that can be granted to a woman is the choice of hijab. We must believe in the current generation and hand over their affairs to them before it is too late." Previously, some members of parliament, including Soheila Jelodarzadeh, had stated that the protest movements of these women were the result of "unnecessary constraints," "pressures," and "the wrong behavior" of the government. However, judicial officials have strongly attacked these actions. In this context, Gholamhossein Esmaili, the head of the Tehran judiciary, reported on Friday, February 10, without mentioning names or details, that the case of one of the protesters against the mandatory hijab, known as the "Girls of Revolution Street," had been sent to court. The Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency recently published the results of two studies indicating an increase in the number of people who consider hijab to be optional. However, the methodology of this survey and the percentage of this increase are not independently verifiable. Additionally, Mohammad Maljou, a researcher and economist, analyzed data from the third "Survey of Values and Attitudes of Iranians" conducted by the National Projects Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in 2015, concluding that this data "loudly indicates that a large majority of Iranians residing in the country agree with the demands of the Girls of Revolution Street." According to the website "Critique of Political Economy" in Iran, based on this research, which analyzed data from the survey conducted in the months of September and October 2015, over 78% supported optional hijab, while nearly 22% supported mandatory hijab. The statistics reported in these surveys cannot be independently confirmed or denied.