Alarming News from Tehran: Nasrin Sotoudeh’s life is in danger after 21 days on hunger strike. As the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) has learned from the inner circle of the prominent political prisoner, her condition is continuously deteriorating. Despite appeals of other political prisoners and Iranian civil rights defenders to end the hunger strike, the 57 year old continues her hunger strike with determination. The human rights activist has already lost six kilos and suffers from blood pressure fluctuations, all while being held in the Evin prison in Tehran. Furthermore, due to constant nausea, Sotoudeh cannot take in sufficient amounts of water.

“We ask the international community to advocate for release of the curageous women’s rights activist and to continue to execute pressure on the Iranian Regime. By now, her body has become so weak that we fear the worst”, Martin Lessenthin, spokesman of the ISHR-board, explains.

Since Nasrins husband, Reza Khandan, reported that his wife continues her hunger strike despite her bad health condition, many Iranians have demanded the release of the lawyer and activist on social media. The ISHR welcomes this act of solidarity and points out that “the power of social media is not to underestimate when it comes to putting pressure on authoritarian regimes”.

By going on hunger strike on 11 August 2020, Nasrin Sotoudeh is protesting against unfair trials in Iran, as well as against the continuous imprisonment of civil rights activists amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On the sixth day of her hunger strike, Mehraveh Khandan, Sotoudeh’s 20 year old daughter, was briefly arrested and hours later, without a statement, released on bail in order to execute pressure on Nasrin Sotoudeh.

“This strategy failed. This inhumane act only strengthened Nasrin’s determination to continue to protest against arbitrariness and human rights violations in Iran”, according to the ISHR.