Month: April 2019

Imprisoned Lawyer’s Husband Rejects Judiciary’s Accusation of “Exaggerating” Her Heavy Sentence

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“The authorities…refuse to accept the fact that they have condemned a woman lawyer to suffer the inhuman act of flogging and a long prison sentence because of activities that were entirely peaceful.” –Reza Khandan, husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh Imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, has rejected Iranian Judiciary Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili’s claim that the magnitude of the sentence against her has been exaggerated. “They are playing games,” Esmaili said at a press conference in Tehran on April 23, referring to the outcry over the harsh punishment against Sotoudeh for her…

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Prominent Human Rights Defender: Iran is Intensifying Crackdown on Activism to Stifle Dissent

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The Iranian government and judiciary are intensifying a nationwide crackdown on civil society and beyond, as well as most forms of activism, to stifle any form of dissent, Abdolkarim Lahiji, a prominent Iranian human rights attorney now based in France, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). In a wide-ranging interview conducted by phone on April 5, 2019, Lahiji, who defended political prisoners in Iran before and after the country’s 1979 revolution told CHRI: “Today, it’s not just political opponents and defenders of human rights being imprisoned, but…

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Paris City Council Grants Honorary Citizenship of Paris to Nasrin Sotoudeh

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The city council of Paris granted honorary citizenship of the city to Nasrin Sotoudeh, the incarcerated Human rights activist and attorney in Iran. On Monday, April 1st, the Paris city council unanimously granted Nasrin Sotoudeh the citizenship of Paris in honor of her fight for “fundamental freedoms and rights of women”. The council members demanded her immediate release in their statement. The statement released on Monday by the Paris municipality, mentioned her efforts in advocating the rights of minorities and women, opposing the death penalty, and receiving Sakharov prize from…

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