Iran has sentenced to 11 years in prison and 20 disabling at prestigious lawyer and human rights Nasrin Sotudeh. The ruling, which the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has described as "grave miscarriage of justice" is the latest in a series with the authorities of the Islamic Republic intended to silence activists and opponents.Since the controversial re-election of Mahmud Ahmanineyad in June 2009, the framework of civil liberties has narrowed significantly in the country. Sotudeh, 45, was arrested Sept. 4 on charges of "acting against national security" and to "cooperate with the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, the organization founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi.
During these months, the lawyer, the mother of a three year old girl and a boy of 11, made three hunger strikes to protest because it was kept in solitary confinement and denied contact with his family and attorney. Last December, Ebadi organized a sit-in outside the UN headquarters in Geneva to ask for his release.
Now the judge has been sentenced to five years in prison for "acting against national security", another five for "not wearing the head covering for a video message" and one more for "propaganda against the regime", as informed her husband, Reza Khandan. It has also been prohibited from practicing law and leave the country for the next 20 years.
"It's very strange and unfair," said the husband still in shock over the disproportionate sentence. Khandan interrogators reminded of his wife assured him they would not "allow the judge who sentenced to less than ten years." "Judgement policy" is clearly a political decision intended to save his job to one of the most prominent human rights defenders in Iran through a serious judicial error, "said Hadi Ghaemi, the spokesman for the Campaign.
Ghaemi calls for repeal during the appeal. Sotudeh has 20 days to appeal. Sotudeh has defended numerous detainees in the protests that followed the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009. Some of them, people known as Isa Saharkhis journalist, but also many anonymous protesters.
Previously, he had made a name as an advocate for juveniles sentenced to death, an issue that has to Iran in the crosshairs of international human rights organizations for years. In a statement to this newspaper, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran says the ruling against Sotudeh "is part of a systematic attack against lawyers and human rights activists." Just three days ago, Nazarahari Shiva, founder of the Reporters Committee for Human Rights, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 74 lashes.
Last October, another prominent lawyer, Mohammad Seifzadeh, was sentenced to nine years in prison and disqualification 10.
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