Nasrin Sotoudeh Refuses to Attend Evin Prosecutor's Office Due to 'Lack of Legal Formalities'

Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, announced that she has been summoned to the second branch of the Evin prison prosecutor's office but will not attend due to 'lack of legal formalities' and absence of 'fair trial conditions.' On Tuesday, November 20, she informed the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that she received a summons on November 15, stating that failure to appear would result in her arrest. However, she declared that she would not go to the prosecutor's office for the aforementioned reasons. Sotoudeh, expressing ignorance about the reason for her summons, mentioned that in recent years she has represented cases including the theft from the home of Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar, victims of the chain murders, and a case of 'sexual abuse' of a child, which 'may have created sensitivities.' Parastoo Forouhar previously stated that the outcome of the case regarding the 'burglary and destruction of her parents' home' led to 'a baseless and hollow ruling from the court, which signifies a deadlock in the judicial process.' In September, Sotoudeh reported on the 'sexual abuse' of a five-year-old child in Karaj by his father. The child's parents are separated, and Sotoudeh noted that despite 'sufficient evidence and documents in the case,' the judge has yet to issue an order prohibiting the father from visiting the child. Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010, and in the initial court, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison for 'acting against national security,' 'propaganda against the regime,' and membership in the Human Rights Defenders Center, along with a 20-year ban from practicing law and a 20-year travel ban. This sentence was reduced to 6 years in prison and a 10-year ban from practicing law in the appeals court. After about three years in prison and serving more than half of her sentence, she was released on September 18, 2013. Following her release, her law license was revoked for three years by the disciplinary court of lawyers in October 2014. In protest against the ban on her legal practice, she staged a sit-in in front of the Tehran Bar Association starting October 21, 2014. During this sit-in, she and her husband were detained several times by intelligence agents, and ultimately, on June 27, 2015, the disciplinary court reduced her suspension from three years to nine months. In this context, Nasrin Sotoudeh has stated that she has been threatened with death, acid attacks, and mutilation. The ban on her legal practice is an unjust ruling that has unraveled. Requests for lifting her legal ban have been made. Nouri-Zad stated that agents failed to disperse Nasrin Sotoudeh and her companions, who were detained and released again. The article also touches on the broader context of protests in Iran, the implications of proxy wars, and the potential radicalization of Iranian society.