Nasrin Sotoudeh Transferred to Qarchak Prison to Serve 12-Year Sentence
Iran’s judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, announced on Wednesday that Nasrin Sotoudeh, a political prisoner, has been transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin to serve a new conviction resulting from what is described as a “public crime.”
The General Administration of Tehran Province Prisons confirmed on Wednesday, the 30th of Mehr, that Ms. Sotoudeh has been transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Nasrin Sotoudeh had previously been convicted of “gathering and conspiracy with intent to act against national security” to five years imprisonment and of “activity against the Islamic Republic system” to one year imprisonment.
Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband, announced on Tuesday via Twitter that she was transferred to Qarchak Prison under the pretense of being sent to a hospital by officials from the general ward of Evin Prison.
According to Mr. Khandan, medical specialists believed that this political prisoner should have been transferred to a hospital for an immediate cardiac examination and angiography procedure.
In response to this news, Mizan news agency reported, citing the public relations official of Tehran Province’s General Prison Administration, that Nasrin Sotoudeh “has recently been convicted to 12 years imprisonment due to a conviction in one of the public crimes, and this conviction has recently become final and enforceable.”
The report made no reference to the specific type of crime Ms. Sotoudeh is alleged to have committed, but added that “pursuant to section B of Article 7 of the regulations governing the separation and classification of prisoners, prisoners convicted of one of the public crimes, which also applies to Nasrin Sotoudeh, are not eligible to be held in a security ward.”
According to statements by the head of the public relations office of the country’s prison organization, whose name was not mentioned, “in accordance with Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, the most severe punishment” for Ms. Sotoudeh “has been considered, and therefore, combining her other convictions, a 12-year prison sentence is being imposed on her.”
His statements did not clearly specify whether a new 12-year sentence has been issued for Nasrin Sotoudeh or whether an additional six years have been added to her existing six-year prison sentence for this human rights activist.
Nasrin Sotoudeh began a hunger strike on the 20th of Mordad in protest of the conditions of political prisoners and ended her hunger strike on the 5th of Mehr following a deterioration in her physical health.
On the 15th of Mehr, the United Nations called on Iran to immediately release Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, and other political prisoners.
Hundreds of writers and cultural figures worldwide have also signed an open letter from the American PEN Association addressed to Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, calling for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and other political prisoners in Iran.
This open letter was signed by prominent writers including Margaret Atwood, Ariel Dorfman, and Paul Auster.
Source: Radio Farda
