Nasrin Sotoudeh transferred to Qarchak "to serve 12 years in prison"
The Tehran Provincial Prisons Directorate announced on Wednesday that political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh has been transferred to Qarchak Prison to serve a new sentence for committing a "public crime."
The official news agency of the Iranian judiciary, Mizan, published this news on Wednesday, October 20, citing the public relations department of the Tehran Provincial Prisons Department, after it was reported that Ms. Sotoudeh had been transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Nasrin Sotoudeh had previously been sentenced to five years in prison on charges of "gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against national security" and one year in prison on charges of "activities against the Islamic Republic."
Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband, announced in a Twitter message on Tuesday that he had been transferred to Qarchak Prison by officers from the general ward of Evin Prison after being promised to be sent to the hospital.
This is despite the fact that, according to Mr. Khandan, according to experts, this political prisoner should have been taken to the hospital for an immediate heart examination and angiography.
In response to this news, Mizan News Agency quoted the public relations officer of the Tehran Provincial Prisons Department as saying that Nasrin Sotoudeh "was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for a public crime, and the latter sentence has recently become final and enforceable."
The news did not mention the type of "crime" that Ms. Sotoudeh allegedly committed, but added that "citing Article 7, Section B of the Regulations on the Separation and Classification of Prisoners, prisoners convicted of one of the public crimes that also affects Nasrin Sotoudeh are not eligible to be held in a security ward."
According to the public relations director of the National Prisons Organization, whose name was also not mentioned, "in accordance with Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, a severe punishment has been considered" for Ms. Sotoudeh, "and therefore, by combining her other convictions, she will be sentenced to 12 years in prison."
His statements did not clearly specify whether a new 12-year sentence was issued for Nasrin Sotoudeh or whether another six years were added to the six-year sentence of the human rights activist.
Nasrin Sotoudeh began a hunger strike on August 10 to protest the situation of political prisoners, and broke her hunger strike on October 25 after her physical condition worsened.
On October 5, the United Nations called on Iran to immediately release Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist, and other political prisoners.
Hundreds of writers and cultural figures around the world have also signed an open letter from the PEN Association of America addressed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, calling for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh and other political prisoners in Iran.
This open letter was signed by renowned authors such as Margaret Atwood, Ariel Dorfman, and Paul Auster.
Source: Radio Farda
