Reza Khandan, the imprisoned husband of prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, has detailed conditions inside Tehran’s Evin Prison in a letter to American filmmakers who previously documented his wife’s human rights work.
Khandan, a human rights defender, wrote to director Jeff Kaufman and producer Marcia Ross, describing the situation he and other inmates face in the facility’s Ward 8.
Kaufman and Ross had featured Nasrin Sotoudeh in their 2020 documentary “Nasrin.”
The filmmakers, who developed a relationship with the couple during production, have been sharing updates about Khandan’s imprisonment on social media and have launched “FREE REZA” petition, calling for his unconditional release.
“Imagine you are going about your day – at work, at home, with friends, with family – always burdened by the knowledge that at any time the police could knock on your door and take you away. That is life for people in authoritarian regimes around the world … and last week that fear came true for my friend Reza Khandan,” Kaufman wrote for Ms. Magazine last week.
“Reza is an activist, graphic designer, father of two, and the husband of renowned human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh. He is now in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, facing a three-and-a-half-year sentence (on top of time already served) for supporting women’s rights in Iran,” he added.
Khandan said in his letter, conveyed during a phone call from Evin Prison: “In prison, the big problem for an inmate is usually the very slow passage of time, but for me, it has always been the opposite. I do not like time to pass faster because I think that these days and weeks that are passing are our share of life that is being destroyed.”
The Islamic Republic’s judiciary convicted Khandan on two charges: five years in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security” and an additional one-year term for “propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic.”
FREE REZA webinar on Tuesday, January 21 (11am ET / 8am PT) hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, featuring Kerry Kennedy (President of RFK Human Rights), Nasrin Sotoudeh (Iranian human rights activist), Nicholas Kristof (Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist), Viviana Krsticevic (Executive Director of the Center for Justice and International Law), and Jeff Kaufman (documentary director, and playwright).
Reza Khandan’s full letter:
Jeff and Marcia Jaan,
As I write this letter, I am sitting on the floor in our small 9-person cell. Iranian prisons do not have tables or chairs; they only have bunks for three people to sleep on. A friend is reading the Etelaat newspaper, which, despite its large size, has almost nothing useful to read since it is one of two official government newspapers that are not supposed to write anything for the people. Another friend is reading the book The Enchanted Soul by Romain Rolland. A third is eating lunch alone, three hours late. The rest are either asleep or doing personal and room chores. (Automated message: This is a call from Evin Prison.)
Six of us are political prisoners. All six of us have been to prison before. One of these friends, Zia Nabavi, was arrested after the Green Movement in Iran and spent nine years of his life in various prisons. He has now been sentenced to two more years in prison. Another young man, Vahid Ghadirzadeh, was imprisoned after his previous arrest for protesting against the mandatory hijab in the Tehran metro. He and his other friends – Armin Sorani, Saman Zandian, Mohammad Abolhasani, and Moein Hajizadeh—were all imprisoned for protesting against the mandatory hijab. Despite the suffering they endured, their names were never mentioned in the media.
From the moment I entered Ward 8 and encountered the overcrowding in the small space of the ward, I immediately decided to protest. I announced that if the conditions in the ward did not change, I would go on a hunger strike. Since I was met with complete disregard from the prison guards, I began my hunger strike the next day. Of course, minutes after my hunger strike began, they moved me from the prayer room to a room considered a better place. In the days that followed, they evacuated the entire hall where the newly arrived prisoners were gathered. With these changes in the prison conditions, I decided to limit my hunger strike and end it after a week.
The change in prison conditions was due to the large number of protests and reactions you had outside the prison regarding my arrest, and this fear of the prison authorities was evident. Visitors still come constantly, and they are trying to make many changes in the prison.
In prison, the big problem for an inmate is usually the very slow passage of time, but for me, it has always been the opposite. I do not like time to pass faster because I think that these days and weeks that are passing are our share of life that is being destroyed – the time I should be sharing with my wife, children, and all those I love. It was in such circumstances that Nasrin told me your messages and words on the phone.
Marcia, your love is always with me, and every time I remember your words, tears flow. Our Marcia rarely speaks, but she sits in the corner and watches everything carefully.
Jeff, thank you for everything you are doing. How I long to see you again – with the same energy, cheerful face, and laughter that sometimes explodes. I hope we can get together soon and remember these days.
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