Reza Kandan is behind bars again and is not even allowed to talk to his family on the phone. The activist is the husband of the famous lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh. "They detained him because six years ago he publicly spoke out against the mandatory wearing of the hijab," Sotoudeh told DW.
The lawyer is worried about her husband and assumes that with the detention the authorities not only want to put pressure on her husband, but also to send a warning to all their critics. Sotoudeh has been fighting for human rights and women's rights for over 25 years. In 2012, she received the European Union's "Sakharov" prize. Her husband, a graphic designer by profession, has been fighting alongside her for human rights for years.
The political system's fear of protests
"In 2018, Reza and other activists made badges with the inscription "I am against the mandatory headscarf". For this reason, in 2019, he was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison. The case was later declared closed, but he was arrested again in mid-December 2024," says Sotoudeh.
She herself was in the infamous "Evin" prison from 2018 to 2023, after taking on the defense of young women fighting against the mandatory headscarf in the country. She was released early in November 2023 for health reasons.
Despite constantly facing the risk of being re-arrested, Sotoudeh did not give up. In mid-January, she published a petition together with the famous Islamic jurist and women's rights activist Sedighe Vasmaghi. The two called for the abolition of the death penalty and the mandatory hijab, as well as an end to violence against women who oppose the bans. The petition emphasizes that the mandatory head covering in Iran is primarily a political tool to suppress women.
"The political system is afraid of protests that could break out again," Sotoudeh explains, recalling the mass demonstrations after the death of Gina Mahsa Amini in September 2022. "That is why the justice system is also trying to suppress activists." The protests were brutally crushed, and to this day there are constant reports of activists being detained.
A new wave of arrests of activists
On March 4, Iranian director Bahman Dar al-Shafai wrote on Instagram that activist Marzieh Ghafari had been arrested and imprisoned in the women's ward of "Evin" after 17 days in solitary confinement. According to Shafai, she is a representative of the cultural organization "Sizdah Aban", and among her activities was support for pregnant women and children. The reasons for her detention are unknown.
At the end of February last year, the famous scientist Ali Abdi was also arrested. He lives in the United States, but in 2023 he visited Tehran to see his mother. In February 2024, he published a video in which he said that he had been sentenced to 12 years in prison. One of the reasons - his analysis of the protests in Iran in 2009.
"My father is still behind bars", Alireza Bakhtiyar told DW. His father, Mohammad Baqer Bakhtiyar, was part of a group of veterans who held a silent protest in front of Tehran University in mid-February.
Repressions even against veterans
One of the demonstrators' demands was the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, who have been forcibly imprisoned in their homes without trial since 2009. Mousavi, who was once the prime minister of the Islamic Republic, fell from grace after the disputed presidential elections in 2009. He then sided with the protesters and criticized the rigging of the elections and the violence against the demonstrators.
Veterans of the war with Iraq (1980-1988) are considered heroes in Iran, but many of them openly criticize the suppression of civil society in the Islamic Republic and the brutal suppression of protests after the death of Gina Mahsa Amini. They also demand the release of political prisoners. The fact that even this group is becoming a victim of repression shows the regime's fear of new protests. Their demonstration in February was met with a brutal response from the authorities and the arrest of hundreds of veterans, including Bakhtiyar.
"My father received death threats because of his critical position towards the political system," his son Alireza said in an interview with DW. "As a soldier, he spent eight years defending the country and its people during the war. Now he considers it his duty to stand up to oppression."
Author: Shabnam von Hein