Fresh surge in arrests of human rights activists in Iran, say advocates

By Dilip -
When Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotuoudeh was arrested at her home and hauled away to Evin prison in June, her husband, Reza Khandan, did what he’s always done when his outspoken wife gets into hot water: publicly agitate for her release. Then on Tuesday, he was arrested, too. 

“Someone called me on my mobile and said he’s from the intelligence ministry,” he wrote on his Facebook a day before his arrest. “He said I have to go there tomorrow. I reminded him that within the limits of the law nobody – no agency other than the judiciary – has the right to seek the arrest of individuals. In response to my objection, he said: ‘Then you will be arrested.’”

Iranian authorities are yet to comment on the arrest.


Human rights monitors have detected a fresh surge of political repression targeting lawyers like Ms Sotoudeh and their families. In recent weeks, at least 14 human rights lawyers and other civil society activists have been arrested by Iranian authorities and charged with vague national security offences, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, an advocacy group, and Amnesty International...
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-arrests-nasrin-sotuoudeh-reza-khandan-crackdown-protest-amnesty-international-a8528211.html

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