Prominent defender of women’s rights, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by the Iranian justice system. Help us advocate for her freedom by signing our petition today.
A global campaign is pushing for the release of Iranian human right’s activist and lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is currently being punished by the legal system in Iran for stringently defending women’s rights.
Sotoudeh was arrested in June 2018, and has consequently been sentenced to seven years in jail by an Iranian court, having already spent three years behind bars.
In a letter penned to the public on Saturday, however, Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, disclosed more information about her incarceration. Khandan revealed that seven indictments in total have been pronounced against his wife, which have totalled up to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes.
The 55 year-old lawyer has been a prominent human rights activist in Iran for years, after tirelessly defending several women who had protested against the mandatory wearing on the headscarf by appearing bareheaded in public.
Prior to her focus on women’s rights, Sotoudeh was imprisoned in Iran from 2010 to 2013, after defending protestors who had been arrested during the 2009 demonstrations against the contested reelection of ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The state put Sotoudeh behind bars in this case for allegedly ‘acting against national security’ and ‘propaganda against the regime’.
During her first period of incarceration, Sotoudeh carried out three hunger strikes to protest against the conditions of her detention in Evine prison. With the support of the International community, she was pardoned and freed on 28th September 2013, and was even the last recipient of the International Human Rights Ludovic-Trarieux award in 2018.
It appears, however, that Sotoudeh needs the intervention of the International community yet again, as she is currently back in prison with charges such as ‘conspiracy’, ‘incitement to corruption and prostitution’ and ‘disruption of public order’ being brutally brought against her.
Sotoudeh has graciously served the international community by helping countless Iranian women fight for their freedom of expression and conscience, and now the time has come for us to fight for her own right to freedom.
Join Marie Claire UK and sign our petition today to release Nasrin Sotoudeh.
Words by Niamh McCollum
The post Join the global campaign to free Iranian human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh appeared first on Marie Claire.