Iran human rights lawyer arrested in Tehran

JURIST

Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh [JURIST news archive] was arrested last Wednesday on unknown charges, according to her husband Reza Khanda. Khanda reported [AFP report] that the couple's car was surrounded by intelligence agents in Tehran and both were arrested. Khanda stated on his Facebook page,"Nasrin and I were arrested. I was freed but Nasrin is still in detention." No information has been revealed why Sotoudeh was detained, but it is reported that she had criticized education restrictions and employment opportunities for political opponents in Iran via Facebook. Sotoudeh was reportedly released later Wednesday.

Sotoudeh has been a prominent figure worldwide since her imprisonment in 2011. Earlier this month Sotoudeh was banned from practicing law [JURIST report] for three years. In April she was summoned [JURIST report] by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry in response to a video posted online showing her giving a speech that voices support for what she calls "prisoners of conscience" in Iran. The video criticized Iran as "a big prison" and denounced the treatment of Mehdi Karoubi and Mirhossein Mousavi, both reformist leaders who have been held under house arrest since 2011. In September of last year she was permanently released [JURIST report] after spending over two years in prison. Other prisoners serving prison terms related to the 2009 mass protests were also released. In December 2012 she staged a 49-day hunger strike [JURIST report] in protest of her prison conditions and a travel ban imposed on her family. After judicial authorities agreed to lift the travel ban on Sotoudeh's daughter, Sotoudeh ended her strike.