Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Arrested

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, prominent human rights lawyer, member of the Iranian Human Rights Defenders Association and abolitionist, Nasrin Sotoudeh who has been on medical furlough since 15 November 2023, was arrested at her home on 1 April 2026. Her daughter, Mahvareh Khandan told IHRNGO that all her parents’ electronic devices had been confiscated. Her family have not been informed of her whereabouts.

“My mother suffers from a congenital heart condition and must avoid any form of psychological stress. Her arrest under these circumstances, and her transfer to an undisclosed location, has caused serious concern for our family,” Mahvareh said.

Nasrin had received a total of 38 years’ imprisonment and 148 lashes for seven different charges. Per Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, she was serving the longest, a twelve-year sentence. That sentence was subsequently reduced to ten years which she was serving before being furloughed on medical grounds in 2023.

She also described the situation of her father, Reza Khandan, a political prisoner held in Evin Prison in Tehran, as worrying under wartime conditions. She said: “My father is imprisoned in Ward 7 of Evin Prison alongside other political prisoners. Only six months remain of his sentence, but the wartime situation has increased our concern. Following US and Israeli air strikes on Iran, prison staffing has been reduced, and ill prisoners are facing a lack of access to adequate medication and medical care. Restrictions have been imposed on prisoners, and officials have welded shut the doors and structures of the prison wards so that, in the event of damage caused by air strikes, prisoners would not be able to escape easily.”