Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights lawyer in Iran.

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.

Nasrin Sotoudeh was born in 1963 in a "religious, middle-class" Iranian family.

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.

Sotoudeh is married to Reza Khandan.

They have two children together.

Sotoudeh has emphasized that Reza is "truly a modern man," standing beside her and her work during her struggles.

Sotoudeh 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".

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".

In 1995 at the age of 32, she took the Bar (Kanoon Vokala) exam, earned her lawyers credentials, and became one of the most active members of the law society.

Sotoudeh's work has included defending abused children and mothers and working to protect abused children from returning to their abusive fathers.

She believes many abusers are ill or past victims of mistreatment and need professional care and medication.

She hopes that the courts will better use child specialists and psychologists in verifying abuse cases to protect innocent children better.

Before her arrest, Sotoudeh represented activists and journalists such as Kourosh Zaim, Isa Saharkhiz, Heshmat Tabarzadi, Nahid Keshavarz, Parvin Ardalan, Omid Memarian, and Roya Tolouie, as well as child abuse and criminal cases.

She worked closely with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and her Defenders of Human Rights Center.

Following Sotoudeh's arrest, Ebadi 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 Václav Havel and Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, also called for Sotoudeh's release.

She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors.

Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi.

She has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, which is a punishable offense in Iran.

Sotoudeh was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security and was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Evin Prison.

On 28 August 2010, Iranian authorities raided Sotoudeh's office.

At the time, Sotoudeh was representing Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian dual citizen charged with security offenses; it was unclear whether the raid was related to Bahrami.

On 4 September 2010, Iranian authorities arrested Sotoudeh on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security.

The Washington Post described the arrest as "highlighting an intensifying crackdown on lawyers who defend influential opposition politicians, activists and journalists."

Amnesty International launched an urgent call for her release, designating her a prisoner of conscience and noting that she was "at risk of torture or other ill-treatment."

Sotoudeh, who was imprisoned in Evin Prison, was reportedly held in solitary confinement.

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.

Later that year, an appeals court reduced her sentence to six years and her practice ban to ten years.

On 9 January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in jail for "activities against national security" and "propaganda against the regime."

In June 2018, she was again arrested and, on 12 March 2019, sentenced to jail in Tehran, after being charged with several national security-related offenses.

While a Tehran judge told the Islamic Republic News Agency she was imprisoned for seven years, it was reported by other sources that the maximum sentence included 10 years in prison and 148 lashes, along with six other verdicts and sentences totaling 38 years bundled together.

However, the sentence was reduced later to 10 years total.

She is still in Qarchak Prison as of July 2021 (see also below).

Nasrin Sotoudeh was the subject of Nasrin, a 2020 documentary filmed in secret in Iran about Sotoudeh's "ongoing battles for the rights of women, children and minorities."

In 2021, she was named as of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

She was released on a medical furlough in July 2021.