Khandan defends right to seek justice

 


Reza Khandan, the husband of jailed human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, reported to Evin Court to present his final defence for having filed a complaint.

In an interview with Zamaneh, Khandan reported that officials have finished investigating the charge laid against him: “publishing falsehoods by writing a letter to Tehran Prosecutor.”

Khandan says he told the court that his letter of complaint, regarding the mistreatment of his wife and family during prison visits, was not published in any media outlet or even online. He had simply written a letter to demand justice from the Tehran Prosecutor.

Khandan indicated that he was only allowed to visit his wife from behind a glass wall, and their children had not been allowed an in-person visit with their mother for more than three months. Sotoudeh had earlier refrained from visiting her family from behind the glass wall on the grounds that they were being mistreated by prison authorities during these visits.

Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in prison and a 20-year ban from practicing law, which was the appellate court reduced to six years in prison.

Sotoudeh is accused of “acting against national security and propaganda against the regime” because of her collaboration with the Human Rights Defenders Centre and her legal defence of several political prisoners.

Source : Radio Zamaneh