Reza Khandan is behind bars again. The Iranian activist and husband of leading human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh isn't even allowed to call his family.

"He was arrested because six years ago he spoke out against the mandatory headscarf [hijab]," Sotoudeh told DW.

Sotoudeh suspects that the Iranian authorities are trying to send a signal with his arrest, not just to put her under pressure but as a warning to all critics of the Iranian regime.

Sotoudeh, who was awarded the European Union's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2012, has been fighting for human rights in Iran for more than 25 years. She is one of the best known voices from within Iranian civil society and her husband, Khandan, a graphic designer by trade, has stood by her side and advocated for human rights for years, too.

In Iran, it has been mandatory for women to wear a headscarf, or hijab, covering their hair since the 1979 revolution that brought a strict theocratic government to power. In recent years, increasing numbers of local women have chosen not to wear hijabs and the rule has also sparked protests.

"In 2018, along with other activists, Reza designed buttons that said, 'I'm against mandatory hijab'," Sotoudeh recounts. "He was arrested for that and in 2019, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. The case........

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