The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has condemned the issuing of a summons for Iranian civil activist Reza Khandan to begin a six-year prison sentence that was handed down in 2018.

Khandan had been sentenced at the time to six years’ imprisonment for a Facebook post published in support of calls to dismantle discriminatory laws against women, and to release human-rights defenders.

The sentence had not been enforced, but he has now been summoned to report to prison to begin serving the time.

The IBAHRI has called on Iran’s authorities to drop all charges against Khandan, the husband of prominent human-rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.

‘Attempt to intimidate’

Sotoudeh was sentenced to 38 years imprisonment and 148 lashes, but has been on medical furlough from prison since July 2021.

The IBAHRI describes her sentence as “the most severe recorded against a lawyer or human-rights defender in Iran in recent years”.

IBAHRI co-chair Anne Ramberg commented: “The summons of Reza Khandan is clearly another attempt by Iran’s authorities to intimidate him and his wife, Nasrin Sotoudeh, into silence, and to stifle the momentum of protests.

“The IBAHRI condemns these actions in the strongest possible terms, and calls for the summons of Khandan to be rescinded, and for all charges against the couple to be dropped.”

Khandan’s summons occurs against the backdrop of mass protests against mandatory hijab laws that have swelled into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling regime.

The human-rights body says that there have been at least 520 protest-related deaths, while almost 20,000 have been detained.