Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband says the judiciary continues to prevent the release of political prisoners
Despite the widespread spread of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons and calls for the release of prisoners by human rights institutions and organizations, some political and civil activists, such as Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and civil activist serving her sentence in prison, are still denied the right to leave or temporary release.
Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband, recently published a text on his Facebook page, referring to the widespread spread of the coronavirus in the world, saying that while the world is struggling to reduce the number of coronavirus deaths, the rulers in Iran, ignoring their responsibility to protect the lives of citizens and contain the virus, are still busy suppressing critics and continuing to imprison them.
Mr. Khandan, posting a picture of his family members in front of Evin Prison after meeting with Nasrin Sotoudeh, said that visiting them has become much more difficult than before due to the high risk of contracting the coronavirus in prison, but families cannot leave their loved ones without visiting and communicating.
Nearly 50 days ago, Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the Islamic Republic's judiciary, issued a new circular ordering limited leave for a group of prisoners sentenced to imprisonment, subject to certain conditions. According to one of its provisions, political prisoners who have been sentenced to more than five years in prison on charges of "acting against national security" are "exempt from being sent on leave."
As such, most political prisoners of conscience, including Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer imprisoned in Iran, who have been sentenced to more than 5 years, are not subject to this directive. Despite the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons, the lives of this imprisoned lawyer and countless prisoners are at risk.
Mr. Khandan says that "the judiciary continues to prevent the release of political prisoners," and that many families are currently wandering between the courtroom, the prosecutor's office, and their homes, despite the risk of contracting the coronavirus.
As of Tuesday, April 16, 2020, the Islamic Republic's authorities officially announced the death of 4,683 people, and the total number of infected people reached 74,877. This is despite the fact that the official statistics provided by the Iranian government cannot be verified or confirmed by independent experts in any way, and therefore cannot be considered as valid and final statistics.
The US Secretary of State said on Tuesday, March 26, that we are concerned that Iran has been secretive about the spread of the coronavirus in the country. On Friday, March 29, he said again that he is concerned about Iran's secrecy.
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered full cooperation to provide assistance to the Iranian people. But the Iranian regime rejected this offer. On April 25, the US Secretary of State said: “Khamenei’s lies about the Wuhan virus are putting people’s lives at risk.”
Source: Voice of America
