New Charges Against Nasrin Sotoudeh; ‘Assisting in Formation of House Church’

Ms. Sotoudeh has been on a hunger strike for several days in protest of her arrest and also in response to pressure on her family and close associates. She has also announced in a letter that she will refrain from appearing and defending herself before the prosecutor and investigator at this office.

According to Reza Khandan, following Nasrin Sotoudeh’s refusal to attend the prosecutor’s office for questioning, on Saturday the prosecutor, along with the prison ward supervisor and the head of Evin Prison’s enforcement office, visited the ward where Ms. Sotoudeh is being held and proceeded to ‘complete the case file.’

According to the same report, the case prosecutor also referred to three new charges against Ms. Sotoudeh in his remarks: ‘assisting in the formation of a house church,’ ‘encouraging the holding of a referendum,’ and ‘attempting to organize a gathering and sit-in.’

Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband expressed surprise at the new charges and said he does not know where the charge of ‘assisting in the formation of a house church’ came from.

Also according to Mr. Khandan, although a court in 2016 issued a verdict against Nasrin Sotoudeh for her membership in a campaign to gradually abolish capital punishment, known as ‘Legam,’ this charge has been brought up again in recent days.

Ms. Sotoudeh cited the most important reason for her hunger strike in prison as security and judicial pressure against her family and associates.

Last week, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband reported a raid by Ministry of Intelligence agents on his home and ‘ransacking the entire house to find badges protesting mandatory hijab,’ and said that security agents also visited the homes of their relatives.

Nasrin Sotoudeh also protested the arrest of Farhad Meisami, a 48-year-old civil activist and physician, calling it illegal.

Farhad Meisami was arrested on August 30, and according to his mother, the reason for his arrest was a number of badges that read ‘I protest mandatory hijab.’