Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Husband Summoned Again For Writing Letter to Prosecutor

Reza Khandan, husband of prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, was summoned again to Evin Prison Court last week. Khandan told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the reason for his new summons was a letter he wrote to Tehran’s Prosecutor last yea, following his wife’s arrest. “In the repeated summonses they had been sending my lawyer for a while, they asked that I appear within 20 days. I went to Evin Court last week,” Khandan told the Campaign.

“Last year, I wrote a grievance letter to Tehran’s Prosecutor, describing things that had happened to my wife and my family after her arrest. Writing letters to the Prosecutor is common among prisoners’ families. This was a personal letter and was not published on the internet or the press. But unfortunately, now the contents of the letter are being used as an excuse for putting me on trial,” said Khandan.

Khandan has spoken with the press since Sotoudeh’s arrest about her condition in prison. After writing the letter to the Tehran Prosecutor, he was detained for 24 hours when he appeared at Evin Prison Court. Last week he was summoned to Evin Prison Court again to present his last defense.

“Unfortunately, the atmosphere is never positive there,” said Khandan, describing the court environment. “Of course, they didn’t particularly mistreat me. The biggest problem there is that it is not possible to have a lawyer there. Without his lawyer, a suspect might say things that are not to his advantage from a legal point of view. Unfortunately, each time I went there I was without a lawyer and I only defended myself,” he added.

“I don’t know what happens now,” said Khandan about his final defense, adding, “I am in a limbo for now, expecting the decision of the investigative judge. They will either acquit me or send my case to the Revolutionary Court.”