WUNRN
IRAN - ACTIVISTS MARCH ON
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
March 8, 2011
Iranian
women's rights activists marched and risked their lives today on the 100th
anniversary of International Women's Day for the release of Iranian women's and
human rights lawyer Nasrin Soutadeh, who has spent over six months in prison for
allegedly acting against state security, assembling, and collusion with intent
to disrupt national security. She was also charged for working with the Center
for Human Rights Defenders, which was founded by Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi.
Soutedeh's
arrest is one in a systematic attack on feminist human rights lawyers and
activists in Iran, many of whom have been arrested, prohibited from traveling,
and have had their organizations closed.
Sotoudeh was arrested in September and received an 11 year prison sentence at
her trial November 15. In addition to the 11 year prison sentence, the court
has prohibited Sotoudeh from practicing law or leaving Iran for the next 20
years. Before her arrest, Sotoudeh was a member of the One Million Signatures
Campaign working to end the legalazed discrimination against women and on the
board of directors of the Society for Defense of Children's Rights.
Sotoudeh, who has been in Evin Prison since September 4, went on a hunger
strike to protest the conditions of her illegal arrest. After ending her hunger
strike for a few days, she started a dry hunger strike, protesting her
deprivation of her legal rights, such as the right to telephone calls and
visits from her family members and her two young children along with the gross
mishandling of her case. She broke her dry hunger strike on November 11 and
ended her hunger strike, which lasted a total of 50 days, following the trial.