| نسرین ستوده Nasrin Sotoudeh |
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|---|---|
Nasrin Sotoudeh in 2009 |
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| Born | April 3, 1963 Tehran, Iran |
| Residence | Tehran, Iran |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Alma mater | Shahid Beheshti University |
| Occupation | Human rights lawyer |
| Religion | Shia Muslim |
Nasrin Sotoudeh (Persian: نسرین ستوده, also spelled Sotoodeh) is a prominent 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.[1] Her clients have included noted journalist Isa Saharkhiz and Heshmat Tabarzadi, the head of Iran's banned opposition group, the Democratic Front.[2] Sotoudeh was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security[1] and has been imprisoned in solitary confinement in Evin Prison.[2] In January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison in addition to barring her from practicing law and from leaving the country for 20 years. According to her husband, Reza Khandan, She has stated that she has withdrawn her appeals request.
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Nasrin Sotoudeh was born in 1963 in a "religious, middle class" Iranian family.[3] She had hoped to study philosophy in college and ranked 53rd in the Iranian national university entrance exam but lacked high enough marks to get a place and ended up studying law at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran.[4] After completing her degree in international law from the university, Sotoudeh took and passed the bar exam successfully in 1995 but had to wait another eight years to be given her permit to practice law.[3]
Sotoudeh is married to Reza Khandan. They have two children together.[5] Nasrin has emphasized that Reza is "truly a modern man," standing beside her and her work during her struggles.[4]
Nasrin started her career at the Iranian Ministry of Housing legal office and after two years joined the legal section of the state-owned Bank Tejarat. During her tenure at the bank she was "heavily involved with preparing the legal case and the legal arguments for many of the cases that Iran presented at The Hague" in its dispute with the United States during "the Algeria court summons there."[4]
Sotoudeh's "first work in the field of women's rights" was a diverse collection of interviews, reports, and articles for the journal Daricheh. The editor-in-chief of the publication rejected the collection which "made Sotoudeh even more determined in her work for women's rights".[3]
In 1995 at the age of 32 she took the Bar (Kanoon Vokala) exam and earned her lawyers credentials, and became one of most active members of the law society.[4] Nasrin's work has included defending abused children and mothers and working to protect abused children from returning to their abusive fathers. She believes that many abusers are ill or past victims of mistreatment themselves, and in need of professional care and medication. She hopes that the courts will make better use of child specialists and psychologists in verifying abuse cases to better protect innocent children.[4]
She has had many well known activists and/or noted journalist such as Isa Saharkhiz, Heshmat Tabarzadi, Nahid Keshavarz, Parvin Ardalan, Omid Memarian, Roya Tolouie and many well known child abuse and criminal cases.[2][4]
Sotoudeh is a close associate of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi[6] who has called for her release and expressed concern regarding her health. In the statement, Ebadi said, "Ms. Sotoudeh is one of the last remaining courageous human rights lawyers who has accepted all risks for defending the victims of human rights violations in Iran. Former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, have also called for Sotoudeh's release.[2]
On August 28, 2010, Iranian authorities raided Sotoudeh's office. At the time, Sotoudeh was representing Zahra Bahrami, a Netherlands-Iran dual citizen charged with security offenses; it was unclear whether the raid was related to Bahrami.[7][8] On September 4, 2010, Iranian authorities arrested Sotoudeh herself on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security.[1] Amnesty International launched an urgent call for her release, considering "her to be a prisoner of conscience who is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment."[5] According to the AP, her arrest "could signal a widening of Iran's crackdown on the pro-reform opposition." Sotoudeh, who is imprisoned in Evin Prison, has reportedly been held in solitary confinement.[2]
On September 25, she began a hunger strike to protest being denied visits and phone calls from her family.[2][6] According to her husband, Sotoudeh ended her hunger strike four weeks later, on October 23.[2]
On October 31, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Sotoudeh continued to protest her detention and ill treatment by going on a dry hunger strike (refusal of both food and water). On November 4, her two young children were permitted to visit her in prison for the first time. They reportedly found her in grave health, having lost a lot of weight.
On, January 9, 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.[9]
In October 2010, 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 Defence of Human Rights, the Union Internationale des Avocats and the World Organisation Against Torture joined Amnesty International in a joint statement denouncing Sotoudeh's arrest and calling for her immediate release.[10]