Nasrin Sotoudeh has announced to the prison officials that she will no longer attend visitations with her family in protest of their treatment last week when they were visiting her.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer and political prisoner announced to judicial authorities and the head of Evin prison, that in protest of her husband, sister and children’s treatment during their visit last week that resulted in their arrest for a few hours, from now on she will refrain from coming to visitations.
According to Kaleme website, Sotoudeh in a letter to the country’s Head of the Judiciary and the Head of the Prison Prosecutor’s office has announced that because last week the most frightful court in Iran illegally detained her family for several hours, holding her two young children hostage, she prefers to from now on not come to visitations, in order to prevent her children from being harmed.
She also said in her letter, “During the past year my family has been penalized too and an example is my husband’s files. Therefore in protest of my family’s desecration, their punishment, and our having to do visitations with security and intelligence officers present, resulting in my children’s harm and suffering, I will no longer go to visitations with them until my family’s honor is restored and the phones in the women’s ward are connected again, considering this is every prisoner’s legal right.”
On Sunday August 7, 2011, while Nasrin’s husband, sister, and children were at a cabin visit with her, prison officials used the excuse of demanding to inspect their notebook and illegally detained the entire family and held them for almost 5 hours.
This incident continued until 5pm that day, while Nasrn’s children Mehvareh and Nima observed the conflict between prison officials against their father and aunt. They were held the entire time hungry and tired in the meeting hall of the courthouse. This was the first time in the past 11months of her mother’s incarceration, that 11-year-old Mahvareh wasn’t able to refrain from shedding tears in her mother’s presence. Finally after obtaining a warrant and inspecting the family’s personal items, Nasrin’s family was released.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, human rights lawyer has spent almost one year now without being granted any furlough from prison. During this time she has only been allowed 20 minute weekly cabin visits while visiting her young children. In the past her husband Reza Khandan who has never engaged in political activities was arrested because of his inquiries into the status of his wife. He was detained for a night and released after paying bail. Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer and human rights activist has been sentenced to 11 years behind bars.
Source: RAHANA