The Cal State Northridge student arrested in Iran last month during a routine traffic stop while in the country to film a documentary was released on bail Monday from a notorious prison, a friend of the family said.
Although the news was welcomed by anxious relatives and CSUN colleagues, Esha Momeni, a 28-year-old Iranian-American, faces serious charges that make her swift return home uncertain.
Momeni was working on a film about the women’s movement in Iran when she was taken into custody Oct. 15. Authorities stopped her for illegally passing another vehicle and later went to her home and confiscated her computer and films. She was then taken to Section 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she was held until her release.
Hassan Hussein, a close friend of Momeni’s, said she was freed on bail after her family surrendered the deed to their home in Iran to Iranian authorities.
“I spoke to Esha this morning and I can say she is sitting at home, surrounded by family and friends and in good spirits,” Hussein said.
News reports from Tehran have quoted Iranian justice officials who say Momeni will be charged with a national security offense. Hussein said her lawyer has not received any information about official charges against her from Iranian authorities. The grad student was scheduled to appear in court today.
Those reports also said that court officials privately told Momeni’s family that her detention was related to her involvement with Change for Equality, a campaign launched by Iranian female activists in September 2006.
On Monday, news of Momeni’s release traveled quickly via e-mail blasts and social-networking sites.
At California State University, Northridge, professors and classmates of Momeni, who were busy planning a vigil for later this week in support of the grad student’s release, celebrated the news.
“These three weeks have probably been some of the most difficult weeks I have ever experienced,” said professor Melissa Wall, adviser for the communications graduate program at CSUN.
“But these weren’t wasted weeks. We have all learned a lot about ourselves and about the obstacles that exist in communication between these two very different countries and cultures. These were the exact issues Esha’s work focused on and even though this has all been very difficult, maybe eventually something good will come out of this.”
Harry Hellenbrand, CSUN’s provost, said he knew Momeni’s release would not be the end of her ordeal, but still was glad to hear that she was allowed to return to her family in Iran.
“There will probably be a series of processes she’ll have to go through in Iran, a series of court hearings, but it is good to have her outside the prison system right now,” he said.
Last week, Momeni’s father was quoted by Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency saying he had no knowledge of his daughter’s “illegal activities.”
Hussein said Momeni’s family was not commenting on her release.
“We don’t know what tomorrow holds but I think so far this is the best we could hope for,” he said.
Since the news of her arrest was made public, Amnesty International and other human-rights organizations have joined with students, professors and academics worldwide in calling for Momeni’s release via blogs, such as www.for-esha.blogspot.com.
Elise Auerbach of Amnesty International said that in similar cases, Iranian-Americans who have been detained in Iran have often waited for weeks, or months, before they’ve been able to return to the United States.
Last year in May, for example, four Iranian-Americans were detained, including Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
Esfandiari was released from prison on bail after being held in solitary confinement at Evin prison for four months.
It took a few months more before Esfandiari was allowed to return to the United States, but the prominent scholar still faces charges in Iran, Auerbach said.
Despite the questions that still remain, fellow students and friends said they were “elated” to know that Momeni, an aspiring filmmaker, painter and musician, was out of prison and back home with her family.
“These last weeks have been surreal, and hearing this news today is surreal,” said friend and fellow CSUN student Anasa Sinegal. “We don’t know when we will see her again but knowing that her friends and family are with her is excellent news.”
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