Concerns about the health condition of woman human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh and judicial harassment of her daughter Mehraveh Khandan
On 26 October 2020, Mehraveh Khandan, the 20-year old daughter of Nasrin Sotoudeh, was summoned to Branch 1175 of Tehran Provincial Criminal Court (Quds Judicial Complex) for a hearing on a lawsuit filed against her by a security officer from the women's ward of Evin Prison in August 2020.
On 17 August 2020, Mehraveh Khandan, the daughter of woman human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh, was arbitrarily arrested by five security officers at her home in Tehran, and transferred to the court in Evin prison. No reason was given for her arrest at the time, however her family later reported that the 20 year-old is being accused of physically assaulting a female security officer who had warned Mehraveh Khandan about wearing a hijab in Evin prison a year ago. She was held at the court for a few hours, before being released with a guarantor’s bail. The family denounced this accusation and believes the arbitrary arrest of Mehraveh Khandan is part of a strategy of increasing pressure on Nasrin Sotoudeh while she is on hunger strike.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a woman human rights defender and a lawyer who has legally represented many imprisoned Iranian activists and human rights defenders, as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. In recent years, she has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, a punishable offence in Iran.
On 26 October 2020, Mehraveh Khandan, the 20-year old daughter of Nasrin Sotoudeh, was summoned to Branch 1175 of Tehran Provincial Criminal Court (Quds Judicial Complex) for a hearing on a lawsuit filed against her by a security officer from the women's ward of Evin Prison in August 2020.
It follows the arbitrary arrest of Mehraveh Khandan on 17 August 2020, which was carried out by five security officers at her home in Tehran, who subsequently transferred her to a court in Evin prison. No reason was given for her arrest at the time, however her family later reported that she is accused of physically assaulting a female security officer who had warned Mehraveh Khandan to wear her hijab properly when she was visiting Nasrin Sotoudeh in Evin prison a year previous. Following the hearing, she was released on bail.
During the most recent hearing on 26 October 2020, Mehraveh Khandan presented her defence together with her lawyers. The judge asked the plaintiffs to provide a CD with footage from security cameras in Evin prison meeting hall on the day in question. It was decided that the court would reconvene on 31 October 2020, so that the judge could make a decision based on the footage together with other evidences provided to the court.
In parallel with the court hearing, a social worker in Qarchak prison and a judicial representative of Evin prison, who were acting as mediators, suggested a settlement and withdrawal from the case, which was not approved by Mehraveh Khandanwho, who could not agree to its terms.
The intensification of pressures from security service against Nasrin Sotoudeh and the judicial harassment of her daughter Mehraveh Khandan occurred only six days after her arbitrary transfer to Qarchak prison, despite Sotoudeh’s poor health condition and increased need for professional medical treatment.
On 17 August 2020, Mehraveh Khandan, the daughter of woman human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh, was arbitrarily arrested by five security officers at her home in Tehran, and transferred to the court in Evin prison. No reason was given for her arrest at the time, however her family later reported that the 20 year-old is being accused of physically assaulting a female security officer who had warned Mehraveh Khandan about wearing a hijab in Evin prison a year ago. She was held at the court for a few hours, before being released with a guarantor’s bail. The family denounced this accusation and believes the arbitrary arrest of Mehraveh Khandan is part of a strategy of increasing pressure on Nasrin Sotoudeh while she is on hunger strike.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a woman human rights defender and a lawyer who has legally represented many imprisoned Iranian activists and human rights defenders, as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. In recent years, she has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, a punishable offence in Iran. Nasrin Sotoudeh has been imprisoned multiple times as a result of her human rights work, most recently on 13 June 2018, when she was arrested and sentenced in two different trials to 38 years and 6 months in prison in addition to 148 lashes on eight charges, including "espionage". One of the charges against her was “membership in an illegal group”, referring to her membership of Legam, a campaign to abolish the death penalty in Iran. According to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, and given the high number of charges against her, only the most severe punishment will be enforced. However, given the high number of charges against her, it is unclear how much of the sentence she will have to serve.
Mehraveh Khandan has previously been targeted as a result of her mother’s work, in what can be seen as an attempt to indirectly target Nasrin Sotoudeh, by targeting members of her family. In 2012, Mehraveh Khandan was prevented from travelling, when she was just 12 years-old, and again in 2016. Both instances can be viewed as reprisal against Nasrin Sotoudeh for her work in defense of human rights, as in neither instances did her daughter have any judicial record or reason to be subject to travel restrictions.
This is not the first time that Nasrin Sotoudeh’s family have been targeted as a result of her work in defense of human rights in Iran. On 27 July 2020, woman human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, reported that his wife's bank accounts had been blocked by the Tehran Prosecutor's Office. Reza Khandan believes this to be the beginning of the seizure of the family's assets. He, along with Nasrin Sotoudeh's lawyer, have repeatedly appealed to the legal department of Pasargad Bank, the Evin Prosecutor's Office and the Prosecutor's Office in Tehran, however their efforts have been unsuccessful. Nor have they received any explanation as to why the bank account has been frozen.
On 10 August 2020, Nasrin Sotoudeh began a hunger strike to protest the continued imprisonment of human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience in Iran. In a letter outlining her reasons, she highlighted that COVID-19 has only served to exacerbate the already poor conditions for prisoners in Iran.
On 16 August, Reza Khandan visited his wife in Evin prison. He reported that she has lost 4 kilograms in the first six days of the hunger strike and now weights just 49 kg. The family is extremely concerned about her health condition, as he also stated that on 13 August, Nasrin Sotoudeh experienced convulsions, however, she refused to go to the clinic of Evin prison due to the lack of COVID-19 protection and preventive measures in place in the clinic.
Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned by the intensified harassment of Nasrin Sotoudeh while in detention and whilst on hunger strike, through the use of judicial harassment against her daughter Mehraveh Khandan, the illegal seizure of the defender’s bank accounts, and denying her temporary release during the pandemic. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned about Nasrin Sotoudeh’s well being, given the vulnerable health condition of the defender and the poor living conditions in Evin prison, exposing her to further risk. Front Line Defenders further believes that the increased harassment of Nasrin Sotoudeh is an attempt to silence her criticism of the Evin prison authorities, and that she is being imprisoned solely as a result of her legitimate and peaceful human rights work in Iran.
