Imprisoned Human Rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been transferred to the clinic at Evin Prison after her health deteriorated on her 9th day of hunger strike. Her husband states that she is in critical condition.
Ms Sotoudeh’s cellmate said: “Nasrin intended to refrain from drinking water and liquids in protest to the apprehension of her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan.” Her husband was unable to attain further information due to the restrictions on the use of telephones in prison.
The authorities arrested Ms Soutedeh's 20-year-old daughter, Mehraveh, at her home in Tehran on August 17, 2020. She was arrested on trumped up charges of “insult and assault” and subsequently released on bail. The authorities also recently blocked the bank account of Nasrin Sotoudeh, cutting off funds for the family. These pressures are part of the authorities malicious plan to stop Ms Soutedeh from protesting within prison.
Nasrin Sotoudeh started her first hunger strike on 11th August protesting the regime’s refusal to release political prisoners during the pandemic and the “cruel conditions” they have to live in at these notorious Iranian prisones.
“The conditions of political prisoners [in Iran] have become so difficult that it is impossible to continue their detention under these oppressive conditions,” Sotoudeh wrote.
Earlier, Ms. Sotoudeh’s attorney, Mohammad Moghimi wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General António Guterres, calling for the release of his client and other political prisoners in Iran. In this letter, Mr. Moghimi expressed concern about the life of his client because of her hunger strike.
He further stressed that the Iranian regime has ignored all international principles of human rights and internal laws of its own despite the Covid-19 pandemic in Iranian prisons, putting the lives of prisoners at grave risk.
He urged Mr. Guterres to use all the available means and take urgent action to convince the Iranian regime to adhere to its international obligations and internal laws, and unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh and other political prisoners.