Nasrin Sotoudeh in critical condition has been transferred to the clinic of the Evin Prison, said Mr. Reza Khandan, husband of the human rights lawyer and political prisoner.
Nasrin Sotoudeh started her unlimited hunger strike on August 11, 2020, after sending out an open letter saying she is protesting the regime’s refusal to release political prisoners during the pandemic and the “cruel conditions” in the Iranian regime prisons.
Nasrin Sotoudeh in critical condition was taken to the clinic of the Evin Prison at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, wrote Mr. Khandan in his Facebook account citing one of his wife’s cellmates who had just come out on leave that day.
Ms. Sotoudeh’s cellmate said, “Nasrin intended to refrain from drinking water and liquids in protest to the apprehension of her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan.”
Mr. Khandan further said that they would not have any news on Nasrin Sotoudeh until Saturday evening, because of the restrictions on the use of telephones in the women’s ward of Evin.”
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.
The letter was published on Monday, August 17, after the arrest of Mehraveh Khandan, Ms. Sotoudeh’s daughter, for several hours. 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.
To bring more pressure on Ms. Sotoudeh, the Iranian Judiciary has also sentenced her husband, Reza Khandan, to six years in prison.
