Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh temporarily freed

IRAN | 17-09-2013 | Sotoudeh fell foul of Iranian authorities after representing several activists in recent years and highlighting execution of juveniles. Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been temporarily released after spending more than two years in jail, according to her husband.

Sotoudeh left Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Thursday and was reunited with her husband and two children, aged 12 and four, on leave for three days, a period that could yet be extended.

The award-winning lawyer fell foul of the authorities after representing several political activists in recent years and highlighting the execution of juveniles in her country. She was arrested in September 2010 and initially sentenced to 11 years in jail for “propaganda against the regime” and “acting against the national security”, but an appeals court later reduced it to six years, which she is serving at Evin.

Amnesty International welcomed the news of Sotoudeh’s temporary release, but said: “Nasrin shouldn’t have been imprisoned in the first place.” Amnesty added: “We urge the Iranian authorities to confirm an extension to this period of leave, to allow Nasrin to get any medical checks which she may not have received in Evin prison. In order to abide by human rights commitments, though, her conviction should be overturned and she should be released unconditionally.”

Sotoudeh’s arrest was also believed to be linked to her representation of Shirin Ebadi, a colleague and Iranian Nobel peace prize laureate currently living in exile. Activists and campaigners say the charges against her are trumped-up, fabricated because of her human rights activities, for which she is recognised internationally.

In October, the European parliament gave its most prestigious human rights award, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, to Sotoudeh and an acclaimed Iranian film director, Jafar Panahi. The award has been previously won by the likes of Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament, said at the time: “The award … is a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own.”

While in jail, Sotoudeh repeatedly went on hunger strike in protest at her arrest and at being deprived of her rights while in jail, such as access to her lawyer and family. Last year, Amnesty said that Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, and her 12-year-old daughter, Mehraveh, were also subject to harassment by the Iranian officials. Khandan and Mehraveh were both summoned to the court and barred from leaving the country.

While in prison, Sotoudeh lost both her parents. She was not allowed to attend the funeral of her father who died two weeks after she was arrested, but she did attend her mother’s burial ceremony for a few hours in December 2012.

Sotoudeh has repeatedly been denied visits from her children in jail, including once for refusing to wear a chador, the full-length cloak worn by Iranian women. “I know that you require water, food, housing, a family, parents, love, and visits with your mother,” she wrote to her children in a letter from jail, according to the opposition website persian2english.com. “However, just as much, you need freedom, social security, the rule of law, and justice.”

(The Guardian)