The Latest from Iran (24 October): The Interrogation of Ahmadinejad?
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 10:56See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From Economic Crisis to Nasrin Sotoudeh's Hunger Strike
The Latest from Iran (23 October): Ahmadinejad v. the Judiciary
1735 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called on Iran to reconsider the "outrageous" and "deplorable" detention of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is in the second week of her hunger strike.
Sotoudeh is serving a six-year prison sentence, with a 20-year ban on legal practice, on charges of "acting against the national security" and "propaganda against the regime".
"Imprisoning Nasrin Sotoudeh on the outrageous basis of 'co-operation with Shirin Ebadi's Centre for the Defence of Human Rights' is deplorable," Hague said. "We urge the Iranian authorities to review her case urgently. We will continue to stand up for human rights defenders in Iran."
A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also intervened, "We are following the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh and other human rights defenders in Iran with great concern. We will continue to campaign for the charges against them to be dropped, and look to Iran to respect the human rights obligations it has signed up to."
1733 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has jumped into the latest dispute around the President, "Creating tensions and rifts within political factions is poison for Iran and its system."