Increased Pressure on Nasrin Sotoudeh's Children

Human rights activists report that following the arrest of Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband, judicial and security officials have increased "pressure" on the couple's children, particularly on Mehraveh Khandan. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer, was arrested on June 13, and her husband Reza Khandan was detained after he reported on September 3 that the Ministry of Intelligence had threatened him with arrest during a phone call. Isa Saharkhiz, a political activist and journalist, wrote on his Facebook page that on Sunday (September 17), while Nasrin Sotoudeh's children were waiting to meet their mother, "their names were not called for the visit," and Mehraveh, Sotoudeh and Khandan's daughter, was "threatened" for not adhering to full hijab. According to a report citing an "informed source," "a person who introduced himself as the head of the visiting hall threatened Mehraveh Khandan that if you do not observe hijab, you will be prevented from entering the visiting hall." Saharkhiz noted that Mehraveh Khandan's attire was "the same as all previous visits" and that "it seems that after Reza Khandan's arrest, a decision was made to exert pressure on the family during visiting days." Sotoudeh's fellow inmates have also told her children that their mother has been asked for a "written commitment to fully observe hijab," which was met with strong opposition from Nasrin Sotoudeh. Sotoudeh has announced that in protest, she will "refuse to attend the visiting hall and even to make phone calls with her family". The report indicates that Sotoudeh made this decision while "on a hunger strike since September 3 and has announced that from September 15, she will refuse to go to the prison infirmary and accept serum and have her blood pressure taken until Reza Khandan's unconditional release from Evin prison." She stated this after she fainted on the stairs of the ward on September 18 due to "severe drop in blood pressure." This is not the first time Nasrin Sotoudeh's family has faced direct or indirect threats and harassment. Reza Khandan stated in October 2011 that he had been "indirectly summoned through his deputy to Branch 4 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office," and in January 2010, after filing a complaint for mistreatment of his wife, he was summoned to court and accused of "spreading falsehoods." The charges against Nasrin Sotoudeh include "collusion, assembly, and propaganda against the regime," and Khandan had previously told Radio Farda that the Revolutionary Court had sentenced Sotoudeh in absentia based on Article 510 of the Islamic Penal Code, which pertains to "aiding spies." Meanwhile, the Evin Prosecutor's Office did not bring such charges against Nasrin Sotoudeh, and the ruling does not match the indictment. Reza Khandan was also arrested on the morning of Tuesday, September 4, after authorities visited his home. His charges include "collusion and assembly against national security," "propaganda against the regime," and "promoting and spreading hijablessness," and Branch 7 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office issued a bail of 700 million tomans for him. The arrests of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Reza Khandan have sparked domestic and international reactions, including Amnesty International calling for their immediate and unconditional release and urging international bodies and the European Union to strongly condemn this action by the Islamic Republic. Several civil and political activists in Iran and abroad have also issued a statement in support of Nasrin Sotoudeh, calling the charges against her "baseless" and "ridiculous," and demanding her and other political and ideological prisoners' release.