Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Husband Says Judiciary Continues to Prevent Release of Political Prisoners
Despite the widespread outbreak of coronavirus in Iranian prisons and calls from human rights organizations for the release of prisoners, some political and civil activists, such as Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned lawyer and civil activist serving her sentence in prison, remain deprived of the right to furlough or temporary release.
Reza Khandan, husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, recently posted a statement on his Facebook page, referring to the widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the world, saying that while the world is fighting to reduce coronavirus deaths, the rulers in Iran, ignoring their responsibility to protect citizens’ lives and contain the virus, continue to suppress critics and keep them imprisoned.
Mr. Khandan, posting a photo of his family members in front of Evin Prison after visiting Nasrin Sotoudeh, said that visiting has become much harder than before due to the high risk of coronavirus infection in prison, but families cannot abandon their loved ones without visits and contact.
About 50 days ago, Ebrahim Raisi, head of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, issued a new circular ordering limited furloughs for a group of sentenced prisoners with certain conditions. According to one provision of the circular, political prisoners charged with “acting against national security” who are sentenced to more than 5 years in prison are “exempted from furlough.”
As a result, most political and ideological prisoners, including Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned lawyer in Iran, who have sentences exceeding 5 years, are not covered by this circular, and despite the spread of coronavirus in Iranian prisons, the life of this imprisoned lawyer and countless other prisoners is at risk.
Mr. Khandan says that “the judiciary continues to prevent the release of political prisoners,” and currently many families, despite the risk of coronavirus infection, are wandering between visiting halls, prosecutor’s offices, and their homes.
The Islamic Republic officials officially announced 4,683 deaths as of Tuesday, 26 Farvardin 1399, and the total number of infected people reached 74,877. However, the official figures provided by the Iranian government are in no way verifiable or confirmable by independent experts and therefore cannot be considered as credible and final statistics.
The U.S. Secretary of State said on Tuesday, 6 Esfand, that we are concerned that Iran may have covered up the spread of coronavirus in the country. He also said again on Friday, 9 Esfand that he is concerned about Iran’s cover-up.
On the other hand, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered a proposal for full cooperation to provide assistance to the Iranian people. However, the Iranian regime rejected this proposal. The U.S. Secretary of State said on 5 Farvardin: “Khamenei’s lies about the Wuhan virus endanger people’s lives.”
Source: Voice of America
