Jailed Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has relayed a message from inside Evin Prison, thanking all activists and organizations that supported her during her hunger strike against the violation of her rights.
Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh’s husband, reported on Facebook on Tuesday December 11 that Sotoudeh had sent a note thanking all her compatriots and all the people who brought attention to her plight during her protest. “I spent 49 days on a hunger strike to protest various issues, including the persecution of my family. During this time, many became concerned with care and kindness toward a general demand which is a big ‘No!’ to family persecutions.”
Sotoudeh writes that authorities first created a judicial file on her husband and put him under pressure and then created a file for her 12-year-old daughter and kept her from traveling abroad.
The jailed human rights activist emphasizes that her daughter, like any other child, has the right to live this time of her life free of fear and threats.
Sotoudeh goes on to add that of the 36 female political prisoners serving time, the close family members of at least 13 of them are being persecuted in some form by the authorities as an addition to their sentences.
Sotoudeh extended her thanks for the support of various civil groups, including Mourning Mothers and Mother of Peace, as well as women’s activists, political prisoners, her cellmates, her husband and her children.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian lawyer, was jailed in September of 2010 for her human rights activities, which the authorities claimed were threatening national security and propagating against the regime. She is serving a six-year sentence.
She began a hunger strike in protest against the violations of her rights as a prisoner, including the right to make phone calls to her family and see them in person on visitation days.
She also protested against rulings made against her husband and 12-year-old daughter as an extension of her sentence. Both were barred from traveling abroad by judicial order.
When authorities agreed to lift the travel ban on her daughter, she agreed to break her hunger strike after 49 days.
Sotoudeh’s hunger strike had caused grave concern amongst activists inside Iran and abroad.
