Jailed Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was permitted by Iranian prison authorities to attend the burial of her mother.
The We-change website reports that Safouri Fakhrian, the mother of jailed lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, was laid to rest on Saturday December 22, and her daughter was allowed to attend the occasion for three hours.
Reports indicate that following the ceremony and reception, and after brief interactions with friends and family, Sotoudeh was returned to Evin Prison.
Sotoudeh thanked all friends and supporters, saying: “Today, my mother’s absence led to a possibility for me to be present among my children, family and friends.”
She commended the efforts of all women’s rights activists, saying: “We are all fighting for the same ideal and need to persevere with utmost patience and grace to attain those ideals.”
Sotoudeh, who was arrested in September of 2010, has not been allowed any visits with her parents during her incarceration. Safouri Fakhrian passed away on Thursday December 20, having been denied all requests for a visit with her daughter.
Sotudeh’s father, who was in a critical care unit of the hospital at the time of Sotoudeh’s arrest, passed away a short time later.
Sotoudeh, who has spoken out against the violation of prisoner rights, began a hunger strike to protest the violation of her rights and, as an extension of that, the persecution of her family.
She ended her 49-day hunger strike after the authorities agreed to lift the travel ban that had been unjustly imposed on her 12-year-old daughter.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is sentenced to six years in jail for her involvement with the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Iran.
She recently was awarded European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for her human rights activism.
