Lawyer Nesrin Sotoudeh taken into custody at the funeral of Armita Geravand

Human rights lawyer Nesrin Sotoudeh was taken into custody and beaten while attending the funeral of 17-year-old Armita Geravand.

Nesrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer, writer, and outspoken human rights champion was reportedly taken into custody and beaten while attending the funeral of 17-year-old Armita Geravand on Sunday. 

Sotoudeh, who was not wearing a hijab at the funeral service, is apparently being held at the Vozara Detention Center, which is used to hold women accused of failing to wear the mandatory hijab, and is where Kurdish young girl Jina Mahsa Amini was taken before her custodial death in September 2022.

Armita Geravand is only the latest young Iranian woman to die at the hands of Iran’s hijab police as part of their relentless campaign to suppress the rights and dignity of Iranian women. Their physical engagement with Geravand on the Tehran metro in early October, captured on video, resulted in a fatal head injury.

Armita Gerawend’s family wanted to bury their daughter in Kermanshah but were denied permission by Iranian state forces. According to reports, the Iranian intelligence service threatened the family and forced them to bury her in Tehran. 

Gerawend was laid to rest in Beheştî Zera Cemetery in Tehran. During the funeral, which was celebrated under siege, eight people were taken into custody.