Abdolfattah Soltani Granted Four-Day Leave from Evin Prison

Abdolfattah Soltani, a lawyer who has been imprisoned since 2011 for 'propaganda against the regime' and for co-founding the Human Rights Defenders Center, left Evin Prison on Saturday, July 3, for a four-day leave. The news of Mr. Soltani's leave was published by the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, without details, and confirmed by the news agency HRANA, which is affiliated with human rights activists in Iran. HRANA reported that this human rights activist had also requested leave in May of this year to attend the anniversary of his mother's death, but was met with opposition from judicial and prison authorities. Abdolfattah Soltani has been sentenced to 13 years in prison, which is reduced to 10 years under Article 134, which states that if a person has multiple offenses, only the highest sentence is considered. With this in mind, Mr. Soltani has served more than half of his sentence. He has had very little leave during this time, having only succeeded in obtaining permission from judicial authorities twice, one of which was at the time of his mother's death. Mr. Soltani's health has deteriorated during his years in prison, suffering from conditions such as anemia, fluctuating blood pressure, and acute colitis. One of the charges against Abdolfattah Soltani was receiving the Nuremberg Human Rights Award from Germany, and another charge was related to informing about his clients' cases, which include various political, ideological, and syndical activists. In this context, there are concerns about Abdolfattah Soltani's condition, and a collective request from civil activists for his release has been met with strong opposition regarding his leave.