Sotoudeh’s Husband Calls Verdict “Strange and Unfair”

After two trial sessions in Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court with Judge Pirabbasi presiding, lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh’s sentence was served to one of her lawyers today. Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, spoke with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about the ruling. “According to this ruling, which is very strange and unfair, Ms. Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, 20 years’ ban on the legal profession and serving as a lawyer, as well as 20 years’ ban on foreign travel,” said Khandan. Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and tried on charges of “acting against national security,” “collusion and assembly against the regime,” and “membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center.” During her last trial session, Sotoudeh told the judge “my interrogators told me what my sentence is two months ago, so I am not waiting for your ruling. They told me that they wouldn’t allow me to get any less than ten years in prison.” In previous interviews with the Campaign, Khandan said that Sotoudeh, based on what she witnessed in prison, is prepared for a long prison term and knows she will not be released soon. Asked whether Sotoudeh is aware of her sentence, Khandan said, “I doubt it. During our last contact, she had not yet been served [the ruling]; therefore I doubt that she has found out over the past two days.” Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on 4 September 2010. She went on three hunger strikes to protest her prison conditions.