Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Following the sudden death of Homa Soltani, the 27-year-old daughter of imprisoned human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, a group of women prisoners of conscience in Tehran’s Evin Prison wrote a joint open letter to convey their condolences.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
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Dear Mr Abdolfattah Soltani and Ms [Masoumeh] Dehghan [spouse of Mr Soltani and mother of Homa Soltani],
It is with great regret and sadness that we hear from our prison cells the heartbreaking news of your beloved daughter’s passing.
Enduring the pain of this loss while serving your eighth year of imprisonment will not be easy, Mr Soltani, as a bereft father and one of the most steadfast defenders of human rights and one of the most compassionate figures in this land – or for you, Ms Dehghan, a kind mother and companion and an aid to Iranian civil society.
We appreciate the scale of your suffering and bereavement. We wish patience and better days for you and your children, and demand Mr Soltani’s freedom from prison.
The list of signatories is as follows:
Nasrin Sotoudeh, Narges Mohammadi, Atena Daemi, Maryam Akbari Monfared, Azita Rafizadeh, Sima Kiani, Nazanin Zaghari and Negin Ghadamian.
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Abdolfatah Soltani was granted furlough to attend the funeral of his daughter, Homa Soltani, who died on August 3, 2018, at the age of 27 as a result of a heart attack.
Amnesty International issued a statement on Twitter in reaction to Homa Soltani’s death, and citing the human rights activities of Mr Soltani, asked “How much longer will Abdolfattah Soltani and his family be punished for defending human rights? The Iranian authorities must put an end to this injustice and release Abdolfattah Soltani immediately”.
On Sunday, August 5, 2018, Saeed Dehghan, Mr Soltani’s lawyer, wrote a letter to Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, citing the reason behind the arrest of his client was politically motivated and orchestrated by individuals such as Saeed Mortazavi (former Tehran Prosecutor General and Iran’s Prosecutor General Assistant who has been convicted of abetting the murder of a jailed protestor during the 2009 popular unrest. He has been sentenced to two years in prison). Mr Dehghan requested from Mr Rouhani to observe the law regarding the conditional release of his client.