Nasrin was on hunger strike
demanding the release of
Iranian Political Prisoners
during the CronaVirus pandemic
Nasrin Sotoudeh
Prominent Iranian Human-Rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh (Persian / فارسی نسرین ستوده), finished her Master's Degree in International Law and passed the bar exam in 1995 but was not permitted to practice law for another eight years.
She is the winner of numerous prestigious international awards, including PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write (2011), Southern Illinois University School of Law Rule of Law Citation (2011) and Sakharov Prize (2012). She was also the finalist for Martin Ennals Award (2012). On 21 September 2018, she was awarded the annual Tribute for a Lawyer, the 23rd Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize initially bestowed on Nelson Mandela in 1986 while in jail. www.RadioFarda.Com
Nasrin 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. She defended children held on death row although its illegal under international law to execute those under 18, some 73 children have been put to death in Iran between 2005 and 2015 and actively campaigned against the death penalty. - www.NobelWomensInitiative.Org
Nasrin is also known for her criticism of the judiciary's decision to force detainees facing politically motivated charges to choose their counsel from a list of lawyers approved by the judiciary. She criticized the new amendment, indicating that it "not only undermines due process rights, it also undermines lawyers' independence". www.Pen.Org
Nasrin has been in Jail since June 2018 on a five-year prison sentence for defending Human-Rights activists in Iran. The regime has impose a heavy sentence on Nasrin: 38 years in prison & 148 lashes. Being denied a lawyer of her choice, neither Nasrin nor her lawyer were present in court to defend her for this sentencing, she was tried in absentia, and this sentence was delivered to Nasrin in her prison cell. - RezaKhandan.NasrinSotoudeh.Com
Nasrin, a human rights lawyer, has represented opposition activists including women prosecuted for removing their mandatory headscarf known as #GirlsOfRevolutionStreet
"Nasrin was forced to navigate a Kafkaesque legal system in which she was denied the right to choose her own lawyer and tried in absentia. The Iranian judiciary prosecuted Nasrin under national security charges to send a clear message that it will not tolerate the peaceful defense of Human Rights by activists or their lawyers. We should all speak out against this travesty of justice." - www.IranHumanRights.Org
"Worrying patterns of intimidation, arrest, prosecution, and ill-treatment of human rights defenders, lawyers, and labour rights activists signal an increasingly severe state response." - The UN investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman
"Wearing the Islamic hijab outside Iran is to support this injustice!" - TD
Reza Khandan
The regime is now about to imprison Nasrin's husband, Reza Khandan (Persian رضا خندان), as well for being Nasrin's voice while she is in prison. Nasrin is also denied prison visits from her two children because the Islamic government deems her modest head scarf a not-good-enough hijab.
Reza Khandan, was sentenced to six years in January for illicitly posting updates about his wife's case on Facebook, but he has yet to be imprisoned on that charge. The couple have two young children. - New York Times
Reza Khandan is sentenced to six years in prison and banned from leaving the country or engaging in online activities for two years for protesting the mandatory hijab law in Iran. - www.Pen.Org
Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian human rights lawyer defending Iranian girls peacefully protesting Iran's compulsory hijab law, was thrown in the notorious Evin prison; so were the Girls of The Revolution Street; so was the lawyer of their lawyer!
Girls of Revolution Street / Enghelaab Street (Persian: دختران خیابان انقلاب) is a series of protests against the compulsory Hijab in Iran. The protests were inspired by Vida Movahed (Persian: ویدا موحد), an Iranian woman known as the Girl of Revolution Street (Persian: دختر خیابان انقلاب), who stood on an utility box on Enghelaab Street (Revolution Street) in Tehran on 27 December 2017, tied her Hijab, a white headscarf, to a stick, and waved it to the crowd as a flag.
Maryam Shariatmadari (Persian مریم شریعتمداری) www.MaryamShariatmadari.Com one of the Girls of Revolution Street injured during compulsory hijab protest was denied post-surgery care by prison officials. Her mother had to disobey the hijab law to get arrested and be jailed so that she could care for her injured daughter in prison. - www.IranHumanRights.Org
Shaparak Shajarizadeh (Persian شاپرک شجری زاده), one of the Girls of Revolution Street, recently named by the BBC as one of the 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2018, is part of a growing wave of activists pushing back against Iran's compulsory hijab law and participating in protest campaigns known online as #WhiteWednesdays and #TheGirlsofRevolutionStreet.
Forty five members of the European Parliament call on EU Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini, on 28 February 2018 to support the Iranian Women's Anti-Compulsory-Hijab Protests. www.MarietjeSchaake.Eu
Girls of Revolution Street protest ignites debate on Iran's compulsory hijab. - www.IranHumanRights.Org
French President Invites Nasrin Sotoudeh to G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council
French President, Emmanuel Macron, invited Nasrin Sotoudeh to be part of G7 advisory council on gender equality. Nasrin being in prison, a seat was left "empty" for her at a meeting of the council at the Elysee Palace in Paris with Macron on February 19, 2019. - www.IranHumanRights.Org DW in Persian
News
38 years in prison & 148 lashes
The Islamic regime has imposed a very heavy sentence on Nasrin
First sentence: 5 years in prison
Second sentence: 33 years in prison & 148 lashes
Total: 38 years in prison & 148 lashes
Being denied a lawyer of her choice, neither Nasrin nor her lawyer were present in court to defend her for this sentencing, she was tried in absentia, and this sentence was delivered to Nasrin in her prison cell. - Reza Khandan, Facebook
The Islamic regime knows they don't have to imprison every Iranian, they just need to get their leaders.
Let us start a
Twitter #FreeNasrin
Facebook #FreeNasrin
# storm campaign to free Nasrin.
Amnesty International Condemns the Sentence
This is the harshest sentence Amnesty International has documented against a human rights defender in Iran in recent years, suggesting that the authorities emboldened by pervasive impunity for human rights violations are stepping up their repression. - Amnesty International
Amnesty International wants Nasrin freed immediately & unconditionally
Governments with influence over Iran should use their power to push for Nasrin Sotoudeh's release. The international community, notably the European Union, must take a strong public stand against this disgraceful conviction and urgently intervene to ensure that she is released immediately and unconditionally. - BBC Persian
Center for Human Rights in Iran Condemns the sentence
The Iranian Judiciary is punishing Sotoudeh for trying to uphold the rule of law and the right to a fair defense in cases involving defendants facing politically motivated charges. - Center for Human Rights in Iran
EU Foreign and Defence Ministry Condemns Conviction of Nasrin Sotoudeh
The diplomatic service and foreign and defence ministry of the EU, European Union External Action (EEAS), has condemned the conviction of prominent Iranian attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh and urged Iran to guarantee her and her husband Reza Khandan, who was sentenced to six years in prison in January 2019, a fair appeal process.Eeas.Europa.Eu
The New York Times Opinion suggests Nasrin should win the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous advocacy of Women's Rights & bravely challenging misogyny & fighting cruel dictatorship NYT Opinion @NytOpinion
Foreign Policy Canada: Canada is deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian human rights lawyer and campaigner Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. Defending #HumanRights is not a crime. This appalling sentence cannot stand.@CanadaFP Foreign Policy Canada
She Defended Iranian Women Who Removed Their Head-Coverings. Now She Is a Convict: The Iranian authorities have never specified why they seized her in June, but at the time Ms. Sotoudeh was defending women arrested when they removed their hijabs, or Islamic head scarves, in public protests. Ms. Sotoudeh may also have angered the judicial authorities by publicly criticizing their decision to limit legal representation for defendants in political cases to a list of 20 state-approved lawyers. Ms. Sotoudeh was not on that list. - New York Times
Sotoudeh is reportedly convicted on multiple charges but her sentence in writing has not been issued yet. According to news reports, the charges for which she has been convicted are not yet clear, but the charges she was facing since her arrest in June 2018 could result in imprisonment up to 33 years and 148 lashes. These charges are, assembly and collusion against national security, propaganda against the state, membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center, the Legaam group [against capital punishment], and the National Peace Council, encouraging corruption and prostitution, appearing at the judiciary without Islamic hijab, disturbing public peace and order and publishing falsehoods with the intent to disturb public opinion. - www.Pen.Org
No amount of spin will be able to conceal the fact that Sotoudeh is being persecuted for her peaceful defense of Human Rights in Iran, including a woman's right to choose whether to wear a hijab. - www.IranHumanRights.Org
The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calling for Nasrin's immediate release. - www.IBAnet.Org
The UN reiterated its concern at the in-absentia conviction and subsequent imprisonment of Nasrin and called on Iran to guarantee her right to a fair trial along with her husband, as well as ensure that they are not deprived arbitrarily of their liberty. - www.IranHumanRights.Org
Constraints on Challenging Iran's Religious Rule - VOA Persian
Letter / نامهی نسرین
Nasrin's letter from Evin prison نامهی نسرین از زندان اوین
هممیهنان گرامی و فعالان حقوق بشر!
از داخل زندان، خبرهایی از زنان سرزمینام میشنوم که مرا غرق شادی و خوشحالی میکند.
تلاشی که امروزه بانوان ایرانی برای آزادی و حق انتخاب پوشششان میکنند، تحسینبرانگیز است. این تحسین بیش از هر چیز به دلیل روش مسالمتجویانهای است که انتخاب کردهاند و در مقابل با احکامی مجموعا چند صد ساله مواجه شدهاند.
40 سال پیش راهی بس سخت پیش پای ملت ایران گشوده شد. زنان نیز سهم بزرگی از این راه سخت و دشوار را تا به امروز پرداختهاند. کنترل شبانه روزی، شخصیت و جسم و جان و روح آنان را نشانه رفت اما آنها برخلاف انتظار روئیدند و بالیدند و سعی کردند به این کنترل شبانه روزی پایان دهند.
شالهای سپیدشان را برسر چوبی در خیابان به اهتزاز درآوردند. جای پای دختران خیابان انقلاب گل گذاشتند و در مترو و خیابان به همنوعانشان گل دادند. اما به ازای هر شاخه گلی، سالیانی حبس دریافت کردند و بیشکوه و شکایتی راهی زندان شدند.
من نیز از داخل زندان برای بانوان هموطنم که خلاقانه و مسالمتآمیز در این راه دشوار تلاش میکنند تا به حجاب اجباری پایان دهند، گل و بوسه میفرستم.
همچنین خبردار شدم تعدادی از هموطنانم در بازجوییها بابت فعالیتهای حمایتیشان از من مورد بازخواست قرار گرفتهاند. من ضمن تقدیم صمیمانهترین سپاسهایم از لطف و مهری که جاری میسازند، توجه خود و هموطنانام را به تلاش جمعیمان جهت ارتقاء خرد جمعی، فراتر از افراد واشخاص جلب میکنم.
بگذار دنیا با حیرت به تلاش جمعیمان برای حقی عادی و ابتدایی بنگرد. این حق روزی نه چندان دور به ما بر میگردد.
38 years in prison & 148 lashes
The Islamic regime has just imposed a very heavy sentence on Nasrin; the harshest sentence Amnesty International has documented against a human rights defender in Iran in recent years, suggesting that the authorities - emboldened by pervasive impunity for human rights violations - are stepping up their repression. - Amnesty International
First sentence: 5 years in prison
Second sentence: 33 years in prison & 148 lashes
Total: 38 years in prison & 148 lashes
Being denied a lawyer of her choice, neither Nasrin nor her lawyer were present in court to defend her for this sentencing, she was tried in absentia, and this sentence was delivered to Nasrin in her prison cell. - Reza Khandan, Facebook
"Nasrin Sotoudeh has dedicated her life to defending women's rights and speaking out against the death penalty - it is utterly outrageous that Iran's authorities are punishing her for her human rights work" - Amnesty International
The Islamic regime knows they don't have to imprison every Iranian, they just need to get their leaders.
Let us start a
Twitter #FreeNasrin
Facebook #FreeNasrin
# storm campaign to free Nasrin.
Site Admin: This site is owned & operated by an Iranian expatiate, a political refugee and a great fan of Nasrin & #GirlsOfRevolutionStreet, trying to be her voice and keeping Nasrin's memory alive while the regime is trying to imprison and silence her behind bars. All the content are from reliable, publicly available, and verifiable news sources. Till Nasrin's freedom, lets us all be her voice: #FreeNasrin Admin