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Film stars, playwrights, novelists and directors from across the world have rallied to the defence of the Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti, calling for her immediate release from the infamous Evin prison in Tehran.
The Oscar-winning actor was arrested at her home on Saturday and has since told her family she is being detained in Evin. She has been asked to explain Instagram posts in which she denounced the Iranian government for imposing the death penalty on protesters. She had posted a picture of herself in which she was not wearing the hijab and holding a piece of paper reading “women, life, freedom” – the slogan that has come to encapsulate a nationwide protest movement.
Iran’s government has been trying to extend its crackdown to cultural and sports celebrities that had been considered too popular for the regime to arrest.
The open letter has been signed by celebrities including Emma Thompson, Mark Rylance, Mark Ruffalo, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh. Steve McQueen, Ian McKellen, David Hare, Juliet Stevenson, and the American Iranian actor Sepideh Moafi.
“The Iranian authorities have strategically chosen to arrest Taraneh before Christmas to ensure her international peers would be distracted,” the signatories write.
“But we are not distracted. We are outraged. Taraneh Alidoosti, like all citizens of Iran, has a right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. We hereby stand in solidarity with her and demand her immediate release and safe return to her family”.
They add: “Taraneh was arrested for her condemnation on Instagram of the execution of Mohsen Shekari, the first protester receiving a death sentence since nationwide protests following the brutal police murder of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini began in September.”
Within Iran, protesters, including fellow artists, have rallied outside Evin jail calling for her release or news of her condition.
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