Filmmaker Jeff Kaufman provides an update on imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

Documentary film director Jeff Kaufman reported on the current status of the situation of the award-winning Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh in prison after an in-depth conversation with her husband Reza Khandan.

Kaufman and his casting director and producer Marcia Ross teamed up with Khandan during the filming of their 2020 documentary Narrated by Olivia Colman Nasrin.

The compelling work follows Sotoudeh’s struggle to defend human rights in the face of human rights abuses by Iran’s harsh Islamic Republic regime.

“This morning we had a detailed discussion with Nasrin’s tireless husband Reza Khandan. He gave us permission to publish this update,” Kaufman wrote in a note Monday night.

Sotoudeh was one of a number of women arrested on October 29 at the funeral of tragic Tehran teenager Armita Geravand, who fell into a coma and died after allegedly being attacked by the country’s morality police for she failed to comply with the mandatory Iranian veil.

The detainees were reportedly severely beaten by a group of police officers who attacked those attending the funeral.

Sotoudeh’s glasses were broken during the attack and she later told her husband that she was covered in bruises, had swelling on the back of her head and had a long-lasting headache.

Kaufman said Khandan revealed that Sotoudeh was being held at Qarchak Women’s Prison, a former industrial chicken farm an hour’s drive outside central Tehran.

“She is kept in an open, overcrowded ward where she has a bed and nothing else. Unlike regular cells, this means she doesn’t have access to a television or a communal fridge to store food, and unlike most other prisoners, she can’t buy fruit or vegetables. As Reza said, these small options can make a big difference in an inmate’s life,” Kaufman wrote.

Sotoudeh was sentenced to 38 years in prison in March 2019, which was later reduced to 10 years, but has been on medical release since July 2021 due to a heart problem.

“Most of the people who were violently arrested at Armita Geravand’s funeral have been released on bail, but there is still no information about what awaits Nasrin. “Plaintiff stated that her medical leave was suspended, even though legally it must be a doctor’s decision,” Kaufman wrote.

“Reza was able to talk to her and get her new glasses, and he was able to bring medication to another prisoner. However, he could not see Nasrin in person. Some of the pain she felt when she was beaten has gone, but now she suffers from alarming grief.

Kauffman noted that Sotoudeh underwent an angioplasty, a procedure that involves opening a narrowed or blocked artery, when she first returned home in 2021 for health reasons.

“The officers will not let her go to the prison doctor because she “categorically refuses to wear a hijab.” Before her arrest, her GP expressed concern about the pressure on her heart and urged her to “avoid stress”. As you can see, that was not possible,” Kaufman wrote.

Khandan said that if the Revolutionary Court decides to reimpose Nasrin’s remaining sentence, Nasrin will be transferred to Evin Prison.

Because of Sotoudeh’s reputation and worldwide support, Khandan suspected that authorities might be wary of forcing his wife to serve her sentence.

“So at this point we don’t know what happens next,” Kaufman wrote. “When Marcia and I approached Nasrin years ago about making a documentary about her life, her first reaction was that she would only consider the idea if she also included everyone else in the Iranian women’s rights movement.”

“It says a lot about her unique character. It also shows that if we move forward and strongly demand their release, we must also demand freedom for all political freedoms. Nasrin will be happy about that.

Sotoudeh has been in and out of prison since 2010 because she is a human rights lawyer and, among other things, represents political activists and women who campaigned for the abolition of the headscarf.

The lawyer is also known in the film world for her performance in Jafar Panahi’s film, which won the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlinale. taxiIn it, she gets into his vehicle on her way to meet her then-client Ghoncheh Ghavami, a British-Iranian woman who was arrested in 2014 for participating in a men’s volleyball match.

Sotoudeh and Panahi previously dedicated the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize to people who championed human rights in different ways.

She also received the Freedom to Write Award (2011), the Franz Werfel Human Rights Award (2019) and the Right Livelihood Award (2020).