{"id":1355,"date":"2018-12-14T14:05:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1355"},"modified":"2018-12-15T14:21:01","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T14:21:01","slug":"europeanparliament-calls-on-iran-to-unconditionally-release-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1355","title":{"rendered":"EuropeanParliament Calls on Iran to \u201cUnconditionally\u201d Release Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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December 14, 2018 \u2014 Adding its voice to an increasingly international call, the European Parliament has overwhelmingly passed a motion urging the Iranian authorities to \u201cimmediately and unconditionally release\u201d prominent human rights attorney\u00a0Nasrin Sotoudeh.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe international community should band together to keep the spotlight on the unjust imprisonment of Sotoudeh and other political prisoners in Iran including women\u2019s rights activist Farhad Meysami as well as Sotoudeh\u2019s husband, Reza Khandan,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cFailing to do so will give Iran\u2019s judiciary and security establishment, including the Revolutionary Guards, a green light to continue imprisoning citizens for their peaceful actions while trampling on the rights to counsel and a fair trial,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The\u00a0resolution\u00a0was adopted on December 13, 2018, by 552 votes in favor, 6 against with 38 abstentions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201c[The European Parliament] calls on the Government of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh; commends Nasrin Sotoudeh for her courage and commitment; urges the judiciary system of Iran to respect due process and fair trial and disclose information on the charges against Nasrin Sotoudeh,\u201d said the resolution.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It also\u00a0called on EU Member States \u201cwith diplomatic missions on the ground to fully implement the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and to provide all appropriate support to Nasrin Sotoudeh and other human rights defenders, including prison visits, trial monitoring and the provision of legal or any other form of assistance that they might require.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The resolution made several other calls related to Iran, including urging the Iranian authorities to \u201censure the right of all defendants to a legal counsel of their choice in all court cases without undue limitations, and to a fair trial, in line with Iran\u2019s international commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights\u201d as well as \u201censure the due process rights of all citizens detained in Iran and to grant them a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The resolution was passed less than two weeks after Sotoudeh, detained in Iran since June 2018, was told she would be facing an additional charge\u00a0for allegedly receiving a cash prize from the European Parliament six years ago\u2014a human rights award she\u00a0never physically received.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sotoudeh is currently jailed in Evin Prison in Tehran and\u00a0facing\u00a0a five-year prison sentence as well as\u00a0four other charges.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The charges, all national security-related, were issued following her outspoken advocacy of human and women\u2019s rights as well as her willingness to take on politically sensitive cases as a defense attorney.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Several other human rights lawyers have also been\u00a0arrested and imprisoned\u00a0in Iran this year in a\u00a0widespread crackdown\u00a0initiated by the judiciary aimed at\u00a0further limiting\u00a0defendants\u2019 due process rights as well as wiping out peaceful activism throughout the country.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To protest the unlawful judicial process and denial of the right to choose her own lawyer in her own case, Sotoudeh has refused to appear in court to hear any of the recent charges against her, a source\u00a0told\u00a0CHRI on November 30.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

She has also\u00a0sued\u00a0Iranian authorities for banning her from seeing her children and other family in Evin Prison for the past two months under the pretext of her alleged \u201cimproper hijab.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sotoudeh went on a second\u00a0hunger strike\u00a0on November 26 to protest the Iranian authorities\u2019 refusal to allow\u00a0Meysami\u00a0to receive hospital treatment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sotoudeh has previously served prison time for peacefully working as a defense lawyer. From 2010-13, she spent three years in Evin Prison.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Several rights organizations\u00a0including CHRI\u00a0as well as international actors\u00a0have called on Iran to free Sotoudeh following her most recent arrest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In July 2018, the International Bar Association\u2019s Human Rights Institute sent a\u00a0letter\u00a0to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling for Sotoudeh\u2019s immediate release.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In August 2018, 60 members of the European Parliament\u00a0called\u00a0on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to \u201cdo all within your power to ensure\u201d the \u201cunconditional release\u201d of Sotoudeh.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One month later, Sotoudeh was awarded the prestigious\u00a0Ludovic Trarieux Human Rights Prize\u00a0for her commitment to human rights and the independence of the legal profession.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In November 2018, the UN also\u00a0reiterated\u00a0its \u201cconcern at the in-absentia conviction and subsequent imprisonment\u201d of Sotoudeh and called on Iran to guarantee her right to a fair trial along with her detained husband,\u00a0Reza Khandan, and fellow political prisoner and women\u2019s rights activist\u00a0Farhad Meysami, as well as ensure that they are not \u201cdeprived arbitrarily of their liberty.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThe\u00a0preventable death\u00a0of Vahid Sayyadi-Nasiri in state custody after his two-month hunger strike is a reminder of the extreme lengths political prisoners in Iran are going to obtain basic rights, as well as the unjust costs they are forced to pay,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cCountries around the world, particularly those that maintain relations with Iran, can help end this disturbing trend by sending a clear message to Iranian officials that they will not turn a blind eye while these rights abuses continue,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

December 14, 2018 \u2014 Adding its voice to an increasingly international call, the European Parliament has overwhelmingly passed a motion urging the Iranian authorities to \u201cimmediately and unconditionally release\u201d prominent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[167],"class_list":["post-1355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-nasrin-sotoudeh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1355"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1361,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions\/1361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}