Mourning Mothers Request Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Release to Attend Father’s Funeral

Only a few days after her arrest, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s father passed away in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Summoned for some “explanations” to the Evin Prisos Court on 4 September 2010, Sotoudeh was subsequently arrested and imprisoned. Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer and member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, is now a fellow-prisoner to several political prisoners whom she represents.

The night before appearing at the Evin Prison Court, Sotoudeh had gone to see her father with her two children, ages three and twelve, unaware that this would be her last visit with her father. Sotoudeh’s family has requested her release for her father’s funeral. In a statement, the Mourning Mothers requested for Sotoudeh’s release:

In memory of Mrs. Sotoudeh’s father,

It has been two weeks since the arrest of Nasrin Sotoudeh, the courageous lawyer of many of our children. She was summoned in writing to provide some explanations to the Evin prison court, but was arrested and moved to solitary confinement inside Evin prison.  The Evin prison court ordered her arrest, knowing that her father was hospitalized in  ICU. He died today, waiting for her daughter’s return. The brave lawyer’s three-year-old boy, Nima, had a birthday this week, waiting for his mother. He and her twelve-year old sister, who has suffered an anxiety attack following witnessing their home’s being stormed and searched by 10 security forces, need their mother’s care.

The arrest of a loving mother and a defender of the defenseless has added to our pain. We, the Park Laleh Mothers (Mourning Mothers), emphasize that the continued imprisonment of a law-abiding and dedicated lawyer is a cruel and inhumane act.

We are gravely concerned for Nasrin Sotoudeh, her children, and her mother, and demand her immediate and unconditional release so that she may be reunited with her children and participate in her father’s funeral.