Democracy News
Iran Convicts Prominent Human Rights Lawyer
January 12, 2011
By: Chinyelu Odunze | Printer Friendly
Iran sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer to 11 years in prison on January 9, 2011. In a New York Times article, her family claims that she was sentenced for crimes that include “activities against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” Additionally, Sotoudeh was barred from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years, her husband, Reza Khandan, said in a telephone interview on Monday.
Voice of America claims that she is believed to be one of the first attorneys jailed from the group that represented activists and political figures rounded up in 2009 during unrest that followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.
According to the New York Times, Mr. Khandan said that five years of the sentence were for accusations that Ms. Sotoudeh was a founding member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center- a lawyers’ association led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. However, her husband countered the accusations by saying, “while membership in the center is not in any way a crime, she was, in any case, not a member.”
Mr. Khandan claims that his wife believes that the ruling against her was politically motivated because her interrogators told her that her sentence was guaranteed to be more than 10 years.
As reported by the Democracy Digest, Sotoudeh represented many activists detained in the wake of the Green movement upsurge following the contested presidential elections in 2009. Further, the Washington Post claims that Sotoudeh’s sentencing highlights an intensifying crackdown on high- profile lawyers connected with Ebadi.
In a statement from the US State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley said, “her conviction is part of a systematic attempt on the part of Iranian authorities to silence the defense of democracy and human rights in Iran.” Further, according to the New York Times, the Iranian authorities have often accused human rights lawyers of colluding with foreign governments to undermine the country’s Islamic government.
Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested in September and spent more than three months in solitary confinement in Tehran. The mother of two young children is well known here for her work defending women and children. According to Voice of America, the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran hails her as one of the most prominent and brave lawyers of the post-election era in Iran. The organization’s Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi, says that Nasrin Sotoudeh was also among the most outspoken lawyers who provided the outside world with a rare view into the Iranian judiciary.
Sources:
Democracy Digest - Outrage greets sentencing of Iranian human rights lawyer
U.S. State Department - Conviction of Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh
Voice of America - Rights Group Harshly Criticizes Sentence Handed to Iranian Lawyer
Washington Post - Iran rights lawyer sentenced to 11 years
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