Change for Equality: According to reports imprisoned human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist, Nasrin Sotoodeh has started a hunger strike to protest refusal on the part of officials to allow for in person and regular visits with her children and other family members. Nasrin Sotoodeh is currently serving a 6 year prison sentence in relation to her human rights activities. She has been in prison since September 4, 2010 without even one day of furlough. Prison and security officials have denied her regular visits with her family, especially in person visits with her children.
The note that appeared on the facebook page of Reza Khandan, Nasrin’s husband has been translated by Banooye Sabz on facebook. We have provided the translated text of the note below:
“After months of back and forth with the prosecutor’s office, the fundamental rights of a mother to have face to face meetings [with her beloved children] are still being denied.
Despite 17 months of incarceration at Evin’s general ward, they still refuse to grant a two minute telephone conversation.
Even a visitation from behind a cabin window with her brother and mother has been denied for an entire year.
Nasrin must now hear through the grapevine that her 12 year old daughter is first summoned along with her husband to the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Court to be informed that she is no longer allowed to leave the country. As if that were not enough, now this innocent young girl who is no longer able to visit her mother behind bars as a result of a conflicting school schedule on Wednesdays must be refused by a judiciary the request to switch her visitation day.
For two months they gave us false hopes that they might grant furlough. The prosecutor’s office even asked us to submit a number of documents, only to suddenly change their minds at the last minute.
Nasrin who has been left with no other recourse, has unfortunately launched a hunger strike as of this morning. I did everything in my power to dissuade her of this decision, but she was adamant. Even without a hunger strike she has lost so much weight and is so weak that she is unrecognizable to those who have not seen her for a while… and now this…. ”
