Nasrin Sotoudeh denied prison visits, wins more international awards
12:34 - 24 October 2011
Kurdpa - Imprisoned lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh has been denied visits for refusing to wear the chador (long open cloak worn by Iranian women on top of their hijab). She has refused to wear the chador, stating that it is a violation of her rights.
Last month the Iranian Judiciary announced that the requirement for women to wear the chador in court had been annulled.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is held in the women’s ward in Evin prison. Her husband Reza Khandan reported that, last week, he and their two young children, were unable to visit her.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is sentenced to six years in prison and banned from practicing law for ten years.
Last year, Judge PirAbassi from branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court had sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison, banned her from practicing law and leaving the country for 20 years.
She is the recipient of the 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. In 2008, she was awarded the Human Rights prize by the International Committee on Human Rights. This week, Nasrin Sotoudeh became the recipient of PEN Canada’s Empty Chair ward for the 32nd International Festival of Authors. She will also receive PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award, given to a writer whose work “transcends the boundaries of national divides and inspires connections across cultures.”
The Empty Chair ward is presented to writers not permitted to travel freely or to appear at literary festivals around the world.
Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010, and spent long periods of time in solitary confinement. She has also spent a significant portion of her incarceration on hunger strike.
Nasrin Sotoudeh has committed no justifiable crime. The Iranian authorities have demonstrated that they are threatened by the lawyer’s defense of her clients, who are mainly human rights activists arrested and abused following the June 2009 Presidential election.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a member of the Defenders of Human Rights, the One Million Signatures Campaign to Change Discriminatory Laws against Women, and the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child.
Last month the Iranian Judiciary announced that the requirement for women to wear the chador in court had been annulled.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is held in the women’s ward in Evin prison. Her husband Reza Khandan reported that, last week, he and their two young children, were unable to visit her.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is sentenced to six years in prison and banned from practicing law for ten years.
Last year, Judge PirAbassi from branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court had sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison, banned her from practicing law and leaving the country for 20 years.
She is the recipient of the 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. In 2008, she was awarded the Human Rights prize by the International Committee on Human Rights. This week, Nasrin Sotoudeh became the recipient of PEN Canada’s Empty Chair ward for the 32nd International Festival of Authors. She will also receive PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award, given to a writer whose work “transcends the boundaries of national divides and inspires connections across cultures.”
The Empty Chair ward is presented to writers not permitted to travel freely or to appear at literary festivals around the world.
Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010, and spent long periods of time in solitary confinement. She has also spent a significant portion of her incarceration on hunger strike.
Nasrin Sotoudeh has committed no justifiable crime. The Iranian authorities have demonstrated that they are threatened by the lawyer’s defense of her clients, who are mainly human rights activists arrested and abused following the June 2009 Presidential election.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a member of the Defenders of Human Rights, the One Million Signatures Campaign to Change Discriminatory Laws against Women, and the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child.
