Posted on 01/10/2011 5:31:28 AM PST by nuconvert
TEHRAN - Iran sentenced a prominent human rights lawyer to 11 years in prison on Sunday, highlighting an intensifying crackdown on lawyers that appears focused on people connected with 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.
The court also ruled that the lawyer, 47-year-old Nasrin Sotoudeh, is not allowed to practice law or leave the country for the next 20 years, her husband, Reza Khandan, said. Khandan said he himself was summoned to court this week, for reasons he didn't know.
The Parliament news Web site, an outlet of members of parliament critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration, confirmed Sotoudeh's sentence on Monday.
Sotoudeh's case has been closely followed by Iranian activists inside and outside the Islamic republic, where she made a name for herself defending children and women's rights activists, anti-government dissidents and journalists. Sotoudeh--who has two children, ages 3 and 11--had defended Ebadi in court.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
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