Nasrin Sotoudeh Refuses to Defend Herself Before Court Located in Evin Prison

Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist currently imprisoned in Evin Prison, has announced that she is unwilling to appear and defend herself before the court located in Evin Prison. She has outlined her reasons in a letter published by her husband.

In a letter published by Nasrin Sotoudeh through her husband, Reza Khandan, she has explained why she is unwilling to appear before the court despite receiving a court summons.

In the letter, published on Tuesday (August 21), Sotoudeh has reviewed her arrest history and writes that she has been detained for the past two months following the presentation of an arrest warrant for the execution of a sentence in absentia issued by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. She was then sent to the prosecutor’s office located in Evin Prison, where she was informed of new charges. Sotoudeh has pointed out that this action was unlawful.

Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested at her home on June 13, 2018, and transferred to Evin Prison. At the time of arrest, she was told that she was being detained “for a five-year prison sentence [in absentia in court].” However, after appearing before the prosecutor’s office located in Evin Prison, it became clear to her that her representation of the “Daughters of the Revolution” case and other human rights activities, such as her membership in the organization to abolish the death penalty, were the reasons for her arrest.

This human rights defender says that since the time of being informed of the charges, she has refrained from presenting any defense and had reasons for avoiding defense.

According to this lawyer, one of her reasons is that the prosecutor’s office of District 33, where she is required to appear, has been located in Evin Prison since summer 2009 to handle political charges in Evin Prison, while lawyers and legal experts have consistently objected to the establishment of a prosecutor’s office within a prison.

Sotoudeh emphasizes the necessity of judicial independence and considers “the establishment of the prosecutor’s office in a section of the prison and the implementation of extremely security-oriented methods in accessing the prosecutor’s office, which means nothing but the control of security institutions over the said prosecutor’s office,” as well as the designation of a predetermined list regarding lawyers allowed to defend political and security-related defendants, to be violations of the principle of judicial independence.

Another reason given by Nasrin Sotoudeh for avoiding appearance before the aforementioned prosecutor’s office is, according to her, that the prosecutor’s office is acting contrary to Article 35 of the Constitution, which states: “In all courts, parties to a case have the right to choose a lawyer for themselves, and if they do not have the ability to choose a lawyer, the means for appointing a lawyer must be provided for them.” According to Nasrin Sotoudeh, the prosecutor’s office located in Evin Prison does not allow defendants to choose their own lawyers.

Nasrin Sotoudeh says that, being aware of her right to choose a lawyer, since the time she appeared at the prosecutor’s office, she announced the names of three of her colleagues to represent her, but the relevant prosecutor refused to accept the representation of these three.

Sotoudeh concludes her letter by writing: “Given the above points and since I do not intend to accept representation by lawyers approved by the Judicial Branch’s Information Protection Office and thereby hold myself responsible for a conviction verdict that has been predetermined, I will therefore refrain from any appearance and defense before the prosecutor’s office and the relevant prosecution.”

Nasrin Sotoudeh has long been under pressure due to her representation of political prisoners. She was arrested in September 2010 while representing a number of political prisoners and was sentenced to six years in prison and ten years of disbarment from legal practice. The lawyer was subsequently released in September 2013 after serving three years in prison.

Ms. Sotoudeh was arrested again at her home on June 13 of this year and sent to prison. Payam Derafshan, Ms. Sotoudeh’s lawyer, in an interview with DW Farsi, explained the case being built against his client and said that his client has been accused of “espionage concealment,” which is a subset of espionage charges. He added that the recent file-building has been done with the interference and order of the Ministry of Intelligence, and the matter began with a letter sent by the judicial deputy of the ministry to the prosecutor-in-charge of Evin Prison.

Human Rights Watch, in a statement released on August 18, attributed Nasrin Sotoudeh’s arrest and pressure to her human rights activities. The organization strongly criticized the new file-building against Nasrin Sotoudeh and the criminalization of human rights activities. The director of the Middle East division of the organization said that the Ministry of Intelligence, alongside the Quds Force Intelligence Organization, is responsible for suppressing human rights defenders in Iran.

In Iran, not only human rights activists but also their families and supporters come under pressure. On the same day that Human Rights Watch released its statement, security forces searched the home of Nasrin Sotoudeh and the sister of Reza Khandan, her husband, and turned it upside down.

Source: DW