Reports indicate that the funeral of “Homa Sulaimani,” the daughter of Abdolfattah Sulaimani, an imprisoned lawyer in Iran, was accompanied by the presence of people and their chants.
Abdolfattah Sulaimani, a renowned lawyer and one of the founders of the “Human Rights Defenders Center,” has been imprisoned for the past seven years following his defense of cases involving politically and ideologically charged defendants, charged with “propaganda against the system” and “forming a group to take action against national security.”
Based on images sent to Voice of America, following the passing of Mr. Sulaimani’s daughter, on Monday, the 15th of Mordad, a group of people attended her funeral ceremony and, in support of Mr. Sulaimani, chanted “Greetings to Sulaimani” and “A courageous lawyer, our condolences.”
At the same ceremony, Massoumeh Dehghan, Mr. Sulaimani’s wife, while thanking those who attended the funeral, said that this injustice of seven years of separation from the father will be recorded in history. Mr. Sulaimani was present at the ceremony following a temporary release from prison.
Abdolfattah Sulaimani and Massoumeh Dehghan, in a statement issued on the occasion of their daughter’s passing, wrote: “Our child and the child of the Iranian nation and an example of millions of other young people who are born in difficult times filled with human suffering and live in worry and pain, some of whom hastily embark on the journey of departure; but our ‘Homa of happiness’ chose the path of eternal journey and ultimately became part of eternity.”
The U.S. State Department expressed its condolences to the family on the passing of Homa Sulaimani in a Persian-language tweet.
Following the passing of Mr. Sulaimani’s 27-year-old daughter, a number of political and civil activists and a group of political prisoners expressed their sympathy with the lawyer.
In a condolence message signed by 9 prisoners including Maryam Akbari Monfared, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraei, Azita Rafiei Zadeh, Nazanin Zaghari, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Negin Ghadami, Sima Kiani, Atena Daemi, and Narges Mohammadi, it stated: “Bearing this pain in the eighth year of imprisonment will not be easy for you, grieving father, one of the most steadfast human rights defenders and one of the most compassionate figures of this land, and for you, compassionate mother and supporter of civil society in Iran.”
On Saturday, a number of human rights activists also visited his home to express sympathy with the lawyer.
Mr. Sulaimani’s lawyer expressed hope that conditional release for the lawyer will be approved.
Source: Voice of America
