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Fears grow for health of detained Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotodeh

By Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Fears grow for health of detained Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

Outspoken human rights lawyer held in Tehran's Evin prison has been on hunger strike for more than a week

"Nasrin
Nasrin Sotoudeh has been kept in solitary confinement since her arrest

Human rights activists have raised serious concerns about the health of Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer who has been on hunger strike in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for more than a week.

Sotoudeh, 45, has been kept in solitary confinement since her arrest in September. She is charged with "propaganda against the regime" and "acting against national security". Her supporters describe the charges as bogus and unsubstantial.

Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, said his wife's life is at risk and has called on the Iranian judiciary "to act before it is too late". He said Sotoudeh has stopped eating and drinking and was so weak that she could not talk on the phone. "Her health is in a critical situation," he said.

A mother of two children aged three and 11 years old, Sotoudeh has represented several political activists and protesters arrested in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election last summer in Iran. Her arrest came after a fresh crackdown on lawyers and human rights activists.

Speaking to the Guardian, Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Nobel peace prize laureate now living in exile in London, said: "I'm extremely worried for her. She was terribly weak and lost a lot of weight when her family met her last time. She is definitely in immediate need of proper medical treatment."

According to Ebadi, Sotoudeh had been threatened by intelligence officials that she would be arrested if she continued representing her clients. A member of the One Million Signatures campaign, a petition for woman rights in Iran, Sotoudeh represented Ebadi in her complaint against Kayhan, a conservative newspaper under the control of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Sotoudeh has also highlighted cases of juvenile executions in Iran. According to Human Rights Watch, Iran executed at least one juvenile offender in 2010, and five in 2009.

Alistair Burt, the British Foreign Office minister for the



    
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