A/HRC/22/48 of Iran was sentenced to eight years in prison and a five-year ban on social activities on charges of activities against national security, publishing falsehood and cooperating with the Iran Freedom Movement. Mr. Yazdi, who is 80 years old was first tried in November 2010 and subsequently convicted in December 2011. He is currently freed on bail but remains at risk of detention. On 23 November 2012, members of the National Front Party, Karish Zaeim, Issa Khan Hatemi, Mohammad Owaisi and Mohsen Rahami, who were visiting Northern Khorasan, were reportedly arrested by intelligence agents and released after intensive investigations. Their arrests appeared to be linked to their political activities. 3. Human rights defenders 38. On 1 November, a group of special procedures28 expressed serious concerns about the ongoing campaign of persecution of human rights lawyers, which has grave implications on the adequate functioning and independence of the justice system. According to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least 32 lawyers had been prosecuted since 2009 and several prominent human rights defenders were being detained (A/67/369, para. 51). On 4 December 2012, the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating health situation of Nasrin Sotoudeh, an internationally recognized lawyer and human rights activist, and called for her prompt release, as well as the release of all those activists who have been arrested and detained for peacefully promoting respect for human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 39. Ms. Sotoudeh, who was awarded the 2012 prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commenced a hunger strike on 17 October 2012, in protest against her prison conditions as well as the travel ban imposed on members of her family. On 4 December, she ended the hunger strike after the authorities acceded to her demands and lifted the travel ban against her 12-year-old daughter. Since her arrest in September 2010, her husband and daughter had been subjected to restrictions, including travel bans. Although the Government asserts that Ms. Sotoudeh committed crimes for which she was convicted by a competent court, the United Nations human rights mechanisms view her imprisonment as arbitrary and in clear violation of international human rights standards (see A/HRC/19/82, para. 37). 40. On 28 January 2011, Kohyar Goodarzi, a human rights activist who was arrested in July 2011, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, on charges of membership in the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, acts against national security and disseminating misinformation about the system. In a letter dated 19 November 2012, the authorities reported that Mr. Goodarzi had enjoyed all procedural guarantees and that his appeal against the initial verdict of five years’ imprisonment had been rejected by the Tehran Appeal Court on 7 July 2012. 4. Threats and harassment of family members of human rights and political activists 41. Family members of human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and artists, are allegedly often subjected to threats, sanctions and travel ban. In his report to the sixtyseventh session of the General Assembly (A/67/369), the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran raised concerns about the alleged frequent arrest, detention, interrogation and intimidation of family members of journalists and employees of the BBC and Radio Farda, aimed at pressuring the concerned journalists 28 12 Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; on human rights defenders; and on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and on the independence of judges and lawyers