The United Nations on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the worsening situation of right activists, lawyers and people from the political sphere who have been detained in Iran and asked the country to release them in view of the pandemic. 

The office of UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Iran has released some 120,000 people from February, but prisoners sentenced for more than five years for “national security” offences were kept out of the provision. 

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It added that such sentences were given to individuals who are  “arbitrarily detained, including human rights defenders, lawyers, dual and foreign nationals, conservationists, and others deprived of their liberty for expressing their views or exercising other rights,” as quoted by news agency AFP.  

Bachelet in a statement lashed out at these detentions saying the prisoners face more risk of contracting coronavirus in Iran, the country worst affected by the virus in the region. 

“People detained solely for their political views or other forms of activism in support of human rights should not be imprisoned at all, and such prisoners, should certainly not be treated more harshly or placed at greater risk,” Bachelet said.

Meanwhile, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer’s condition worsened by the hunger strike she launched over the poor condition of prisons in Iran. 

Nasrin is under a sentence of more than 30 years on charges linked to her human rights work.