Urgent Concerns Over Health of Human Rights Attorney Six Weeks into Her Hunger Strike
September 23, 2020—The prominent civil rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was hospitalized for a serious heart condition and has been on hunger strike for more than 40 days, was transferred back to Evin Prison today, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Read more
Imprisoned Human Rights Lawyer on Hunger Strike Since August 11 to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners
Husband Catches Glimpse as She is Wheeled for Tests: “She does not look well at all”
September 20, 2020—The imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been on a hunger strike since August 11 to free Iran’s political prisoners, has been hospitalized as of September 19, 2020, with her condition worsening, and the family is being denied access to her and any information on her condition, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned, after speaking with her husband, Reza Khandan on September 20, 2020.
“The authorities in Iran may try to hide Nasrin’s dangerous deterioration, but the world is watching and will hold the government responsible for her wellbeing,” said Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI executive director.
Sotoudeh’s husband told CHRI, “Her heart situation is not good at all, they are banning us from visiting her and I cannot go her see her directly.
“I managed to accidentally see her in the hallway as they brought her out for cardiac tests, she was in a wheelchair and I only got a momentary glance of her and she did not look well at all.”
Reza Khandan told CHRI that none of her doctors will speak to him and that she is under stringent guard by security agents.
CHRI is extraordinarily concerned about Nasrin Sotoudeh’s deteriorating medical situation and the egregious violations ongoing right now regarding the authorities’ refusal to allow family visitation and consultation. We urgently call on the authorities to allow the family to see her immediately, to provide the family with full information on her condition, and to allow the family to decide on and give consent for any medical treatment.
Sotoudeh was rushed to the hospital yesterday from Evin Prison, where she has been imprisoned since 2018 for her work as a human rights attorney in Iran. There has been an international outcry for the release of the human rights attorney, which has gathered urgency as Sotoudeh began her hunger strike.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is currently serving a 38-year sentence at Evin Prison for her peaceful work defending basic civil and political rights in Iran, 12 years of which she must serve before becoming eligible for parole. Among her charges were “encouraging prostitution” for advocating against compulsory hijab and defending citizens’ right to peaceful dissent.
In addition to the unjust imprisonment of scores of political prisoners in Iran, many have fallen ill to COVID-19 in Iran’s overcrowded and unhygienic prisons. Iran’s political prisoners were largely left out of the country’s March 2020 mass release of prisoners, which was aimed at stemming the mounting deaths from COVID-19 in the country.
Lawyer for Navid Afkari: Video Footage Proves He Did Not Commit Alleged Crime
“There is not one shred of evidence … they are looking for a neck for their rope”
September 2, 2020—The Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari has been sentenced to death for allegedly killing a security man in Shiraz, Fars Province at the time of the summer 2018 protests in the province—despite evidence that he did not commit the alleged crime and that he was tortured during interrogation into giving a false “confession.” Read more
Husband: “Nasrin has become extremely weak”
August 31, 2020—The health of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has become critically threatened by a hunger strike she began on August 11, 2020 to call for the release of political prisoners severely endangered by the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Iran’s overcrowded prisons. Read more
Leading MEPs express concern for the health of Sakharov Prize laureate Nasrin Sotoudeh and call for Iranian authorities to listen to her claim for justice.
08.18.2020- European Parliament Press Releases
Heidi Hautala, Vice President in charge of Democracy, Human Rights and the Sakharov Community, and Maria Arena, Chair of the Sub-Committee on Human Rights issued the following statement on Nasrin Sotoudeh’s renewed hunger strike and increased pressure on her family:
August 18, 2020—Mehraveh Khandan, the 20-year-old daughter of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, was arrested at her home in Tehran on August 17, 2020, and detained in order to force her mother to end her hunger strike in Evin Prison, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. Read more
Prominent Labor Activists, Lawyer and Journalist Among Those Falling Ill
August 11, 2020—Political prisoners in Iran—including prominent labor leaders Esmail Abdi and Jafar Azimzadeh, the human rights attorney Amirsalar Davouudi, the journalist Majid Azarpey and others—are contracting the COVID-19 virus at alarming rates.
Husband of Imprisoned Human Rights Attorney Says Tactic Aimed at Silencing Family
Reza Khandan: “They want to send a message to those who are willing to go to prison. What we have to say is we won’t step back”
July 29, 2020—Broadening its assault on human rights defenders and their families, Iran’s judiciary has blocked the bank account of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, her husband, Reza Khandan, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on July 27, 2020. Read more
July 28, 2020—The Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been imprisoned in Iran on spurious charges since October 2018, has been moved to the notoriously harsh Gharchak Prison, south of Tehran, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned, where she will be held alongside violent prisoners.
At Least Nine Defense Attorneys Sentenced to Prison Since 2018
June 23, 2020 – Two years after the prominent human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and imprisoned in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary’s continuing prosecution of independent lawyers under manufactured charges is laying bare the state’s disregard for international standards of law and due process. Read more
