A new wave of arrests of women activists by Iran’s security agents has led to the detainment of Hoda Amid, a lawyer, and Najmeh Vahedi, a women’s rights activist, who were arrested in their homes in Tehran by the Iranian intelligence services.
The Iranian regime continues its baseless arrests and imprisonment of human rights lawyers and activists. On the morning of September 1, 2018, Hoda Amid, a lawyer and a women’s rights activist, was arrested at home in Tehran by security forces.
Najmeh Vahedi, another women’s rights activist and sociology graduate, was also arrested at the same time at her home in Tehran.
According to reports these two women’s rights activists held women’s rights educational training workshops in Iran.
Currently, there is no information available on the reasons for the arrests of women activists and the current situation of the female lawyer and women’s rights activist after their arrests.
The arrests of women activists and lawyer has taken place while increasing pressure in recent days on lawyers and activists in Iran has caused widespread protests on domestic and foreign levels.
In attempts to increase pressure on human rights activists and lawyers, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan announced that the temporary detention of the Iranian lawyer and human rights activist, was extended for the second time.
Reza Khandan told the state-run ISNA news agency, “I think my wife’s third month of detention will end in 10 days.” He had previously said, “After the first month of her temporary detainment ended, with a 10-day delay, they extended my wife’s imprisonment again.” (The state-run ISNA News Agency – September 1, 2018)
Nasrin Sotoudeh, human rights lawyer and activist was recently informed of three new charges, in addition to five previous ones. She began a hunger strike in Evin Prison on August 25, 2018, in protest to her arrest and numerous instances of Judiciary’s pressures on her family, relatives and friends.