In an era when human rights is respected by most international societies, a woman in Iran is sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes only for defending human rights." Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights lawyer in Iran.
She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors" (Wikipedia). She was arrested several times in the past for protecting the rights of women and adolescents, who were actually condemned in the Iranian dictatorial regime, but stubbornly continued her work.
Sotoudeh was born in an average religious family. She completed her education in international law and “she first worked as a journalist for reformist newspapers; in 2003, when she received her law license, she joined the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, which offered pro bono representation to political prisoners, and the Society for the Protection of the Rights of Children” (Meet Nasrin). She has been active in the field of women's rights at the same time and has published a series of interviews, articles and reports on the defense of women's rights (Wikipedia). “Nasrin also was a signatory to the Campaign for One Million Signatures, which called for the elimination of laws discriminating against women, and defended many of its members when they were arrested” (Meet Nasrin).
The first date of Nasrin Sotoudeh's arrest was on 28 August 2010, when Iranian authorities raided Sotoudeh's office. At the time, Sotoudeh was representing Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian dual citizen charged with security offenses. On 9 January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in jail for charges that include "activities against national security" and "propaganda against the regime." Additionally, she has been barred from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years. In mid-September 2011, an appeals court reduced Nasrin Sotoudeh's prison sentence to six years; her ban from working as a lawyer was reduced to ten years. Sotoudeh was arrested again in June 2018. According to her lawyer, she was charged with espionage, dissemination of propaganda and disparaging the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei (Wikipedia). During the prison period, this hard-working human rights defender went on a long hunger strike, suffering from various life threatening illnesses. The Guardian wrote about Nasrin Sotoudeh, “Sotoudeh, mother of two children, has also worked as a lawyer for women detained for refusing to cover their hair in public. She was awarded the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the EU in 2012” (Iranian human rights).
On 6 March 2019, she was convicted in absentia, after refusing to attend the trial before Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Court because she was unable to select her own counsel. She was charged with a number of offences, including being a member of a human rights organization and stoking "corruption and prostitution" (Wikipedia). The last sentence issued for Nasrin Sotoudeh is 38 years imprisonment and 148 lashes. “Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, wrote on Facebook that the sentence was decades in jail and 148 lashes, unusually harsh even for Iran, which cracks down hard on dissent and regularly imposes death sentences for some crimes” (Human rights lawyer). Despite the international condemnation against the arrest and imprisonment of this human rights activist, the Iranian dictatorship has not yet changed the verdict. “The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights, the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights, the Union Internationale des Avocats and the World Organization against Torture joined Amnesty International in a joint statement denouncing Sotoudeh's arrest and calling for her immediate release” (Wikipedia).
Although the support continues to defend this human rights activist, unfortunately, the regime of the dictatorship ruling Iran has not made any concessions. Long live Nasrin Sotoudeh and all conscientious prisoners who are captured by this regime. Nasrin Sotoudeh and the rest of the prisoners, with their stubborn perseverance in the prisons of this regime, are learning to stand up, despite the horrible conditions of imprisonment, they hope for freedom. Nasrin Sotoudeh in one of her famous sentences states: “Protests against the mandatory hijab are here to stay. The only way to deal with them is to pay attention”.
Works Cited
“Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh jailed 'for 38 years' in Iran.” The Guardian. Mar 11, 2019.
“Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Arrested.” The Guardian. Jun 13, 2018
“Meet Nasrin Sotouded, Iran.” Nobel Women’s initiative. Nov 29, 2018.
“Nasrin Sotoudeh.” Wikipedia.2019.
Comments