Reza Khandan, the husband of detained Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, reported that the Islamic Republic judiciary has renewed pressures on his wife and family.
Evin Court has called for the suspension of Sotoudeh’s permit to practice law, the International Campaign for Human Rights reports.
Sotoudeh was arrested nearly six months ago and has been kept in the security section of the prison under special conditions.
Last December she was sentenced to 11 years in prison and banned from practicing law and traveling abroad for 20 years.
Twice she has gone on hunger strikes to protest trial delays and her dire conditions in prison.
She is charged with activities against national security and propaganda against the regime. She was given an added charge of not adhering to the required hijab (Islamic head covering) when she made a recorded video message.
Khandan said that since his wife’s trial has already been held and her sentence issued, she should no longer be held in the security section of the prison.
He added that Sotoudeh’s trial for not wearing the hijab was carried out without any possibility for a proper defense because she is being held in such strict conditions, and her family was not allowed to attend the session. According to Khandan, Sotoudeh has denied the legitimacy of the court procedures under such conditions.
Khandan said his wife has been denied pen and paper in prison, despite her complaints that she couldn’t prepare her defence without them.
Sotoudeh is no longer being allowed to call home once a week as she had before, her husband said, and the family’s attempt to visit her was denied last week, as she is once again forbidden to have visitors.
Sotoudeh’s practice was largely focused on human rights issues, and prior to her arrest she had taken on the cases of several political prisoners arrested in the post-election protests to the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
