Sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes for …

Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian lawyer jailed for a year for defending women who oppose the forced use of the hijab, the traditional veil that should cover the head and part of the chest. Nasrin, who is also a human rights defender, faces a 39-year prison sentence and 148 lashes for "propaganda against the system".

The Iranian lawyer has been imprisoned in Evin prison in Tehran since June 13. The most recent accusations against her concern her work as a defender of various convictions of women for peacefully demonstrating against "Iran's abusive, discriminatory and degrading laws on the use of the hijab by force".

The arrests of women for protesting against the wearing of the hijab began in December 2017 when a woman withdrew her veil, tied her to a stick and began to make her waving from the top of her head. a structure. He did it to protest against its obligatory use. This gesture has been imitated by many other women across the country, commonly identified as "street girls of the revolution".

The activities of Nasrin Sotoudeh in his role as defense counsel consisted in organizing meetings with his clients. And that is why they also armed her with a criminal case against her. According to her husband, Reza Khandan, Nasrin said that since she could not defend women because she was imprisoned, she had also planned to rebel against the use of the hijab in prison. He said that, like his clients, the "street girls revolution", the obligatory use of the handkerchief is "inhumane and contrary to human rights".

Prior to his arrest, Nasrin had publicly criticized the Magistrate's decision to force detainees on certain charges – including those related to national security – to choose their defense counsel from a list of lawyers he investigated and approved. President of the Judiciary. In fact, human rights organizations have criticized the fact that the lawyers on this list are mainly former prosecutors and non-independent judges.

One year after the arrest of the lawyer, Amnesty International has launched the #FreeNasrin campaign, which involves giving 1,188,381 signatures to the Iranian authorities to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Nasrin.

According to the details of the agency, at the time of his detention, the Iranian authorities told Nasrin that he had to serve his sentence without even being tried. Later, he was told that he was facing new charges for "disseminating propaganda against the system" and "meeting and colluding to commit crimes against national security".

"The case of Nasrin Sotoudeh is representative of the general crackdown by the Iranian authorities in recent years to crush the Iranian civil society and silence those who defend human rights in the country," said Amnesty International.