Prominent student activist and women's rights advocate Bahareh Hedayat has been released in Iran after spending more than six years in jail, her husband says.
Amin Ahmadian,announced Hedayat's release in a post on Instagram where he said he couldn’t believe that she was finally free.
Hedayat was among scores of activists, intellectuals, and reformist figures who were arrested and sentenced to prison during the state crackdown that followed the disputed 2009 reelection of Iran’s former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
She was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of charges that included "acting against national security," "insulting the leader," and "insulting the president."
While in jail, she had been reportedly sentenced to an additional six months for writing a letter, with fellow jailed student activist Majid Tavakoli, calling on students to continue their peaceful struggle for more rights.
Rights groups had repeatedly called for her release.
Prominent Activist Freed In Iran
Bahareh Hedayat (right) and her husband Amin Ahmadian pose for a photograph from 2012.