Reza Khandan: Nasrin Says If We Are to Die, Let Us Die With Our Families
Reza Khandan, civil activist and husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, informed the Human Rights Campaign in Iran about the hunger strike of this renowned lawyer in Evin Prison in protest against preventing the release of political prisoners. Mr. Khandan told the campaign that despite promises from officials and in conditions where coronavirus is dangerously spreading in the country, most political prisoners have been deprived of furlough and freedom, and Ms. Sotoudeh’s hunger strike is in protest of this situation.
According to Mr. Khandan, at least 4 political prisoners in Evin Prison joined Nasrin Sotoudeh’s hunger strike yesterday: “Rezvaneh Khanbigi from the women’s ward and Hossein Sarlak and Morteza Nazari from the political prisoners in ward 4 of Evin Prison have also started hunger strikes, and their protest is against the prosecutor’s office and security authorities’ opposition to their furlough.”
Concerns about the health of political prisoners and their non-release on bail in these dangerous conditions and the spread of coronavirus are increasing day by day. Although judicial authorities have claimed the conditional release of seventy thousand prisoners in the country, political and ideological prisoners continue to be held in prisons.
On March 11, UN officials, including Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur, by following up on these concerns, requested that the Iranian government immediately include political and ideological prisoners in these releases.
Nasrin Sotoudeh announced in a statement issued from inside the prison that “in the midst of a crisis that has engulfed the world and Iran, those same military and security institutions that have undermined the country’s security through their imposition of combative management; still insist on keeping political prisoners imprisoned in the current high-risk conditions so that the disaster becomes deeper and wider and the storm of this deadly virus destroys political prisoners or their families.”
According to Ms. Sotoudeh’s statement, “all measures show that no institution other than police and security agencies is a decision-maker in this regard, and these were the institutions that threw the country into the depths of collapse and confusion. It is a national necessity that many wards of prisons in the country, including the women’s ward of Evin Prison, be closed, and it is a national necessity that the government come to terms with the world in order to benefit from the advantages of knowledge and technology to combat coronavirus. Since all legal and judicial correspondence to remind the necessity of releasing prisoners has remained unanswered, I hereby resort to hunger strike as the last resort of a prisoner, and reiterate my request for the release of political prisoners.”
Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband, told the campaign in an interview: “The situation we are currently in is a very special situation, as if we have reached the end of the world and we are not in normal circumstances, especially our country is in very abnormal conditions. I understand that this virus was first in China and went to Italy, South Korea, and different countries, but we were living in miserable conditions even without this virus and with the existence of an incapable and oppressive system, very high poverty and inflation, we were struggling with death. In this situation, the disease has also entered the country, and a country in which disease is raging did not cut its flights to China and then did not restrict contaminated cities and had no planned action. The virus has spread throughout the country and people are in danger and there is no possibility to imagine life. Now imagine that a family member is in prison, they do not even have the ability to make regular phone calls, only 5 minutes a day to talk and see if they are alive or dead.”
Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband referred to her opposition to the hunger strike of Farhad Meisami, a political prisoner, and told the campaign: “A few months ago during Farhad Meisami’s hunger strike, Nasrin was earnestly pleading not to do it and that it is dangerous. In fact, she said I will not do such a thing anymore. But now there are special circumstances. Political prisoners are also concerned about themselves and more concerned about their families. They think that if they were outside, they could protect their families and children, and now inside the prison they are waiting every moment for news of something unfortunate from outside. Prisons also do not have good conditions. The enemy of this disease is that you isolate people, quarantine them, and what causes the spread of this disease is gathering. Prison means gathering and has no other meaning, and our prisons are overcrowded prisons, I myself was imprisoned in a room with 60 people. It is not that you separate your bowl and say my room is separate and I am in quarantine. When the disease enters these prisons, it does not come out that easily, and things have reached a point where Nasrin, who was opposed to hunger strikes, prepared a statement yesterday with Ms. Nahid Beheshti, and both wanted to strike, but as soon as this happened, they told Ms. Beheshti to bring bail for furlough. Of course, Ms. Beheshti is still on strike until she gets out.”
Reza Khandan reported the hospitalization of two female guards due to coronavirus and told the campaign: “What is very important about prison wards is that entries are strictly controlled, meaning no new prisoner comes unless he has been quarantined for two weeks, and secondly, there are facilities for disinfecting prison supplies and equipment, but in such circumstances, the hospitalization of the female guards has added to the concerns.”
He explained the reason for Nasrin Sotoudeh’s emphasis on the release of political prisoners as follows: “even non-political prisoners are given furlough more than the facilities that the law provides in normal conditions and easily obtain conditional release. We do not say not to give them furlough, definitely give them furlough too, but our emphasis is on political prisoners who are completely innocent and have been imprisoned for just a criticism, many of them have not even criticized, like environmentalists who have not criticized at all, have not written anything against the government and have not done political work. Some are hostages and some have written a few posts on Telegram or Facebook or are lawyers who have been imprisoned for defending political prisoners. We do not say that if they come out, everything will be fine, but Nasrin says if we are to die, let us die with our families. In these circumstances, should you not also care about us?”
Source: Human Rights Campaign
