Remarkable people with Iranian roots

Nasrin Sotoudeh (also spelled Sotoodeh, Persian: نسرین ستوده‎) is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections as well as prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors.^[1] Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi, the head of the banned opposition group Democratic Front of Iran.^[2]

Sotoudeh was arrested in September 2010 on charges of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security^[1] and was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Evin Prison.^[3] In January 2011, Iranian authorities sentenced Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison.

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Prior to her arrest, Sotoudeh represented activists and journalists such as Isa Saharkhiz, Heshmat Tabarzadi, Nahid Keshavarz, Parvin Ardalan, Omid Memarian, and Roya Tolouie, as well as child abuse and criminal cases.^[3][5] She worked closely with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and her Defenders of Human Rights Center.^[7][8] Following Sotoudeh’s arrest, Ebadi called for her release and expressed concern regarding her health. In the statement, Ebadi said, “Ms. Sotoudeh is one of the last remaining courageous human rights lawyers who has accepted all risks for defending the victims of human rights violations in Iran”. Former Czech President Václav Havel and Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, also called for Sotoudeh’s release.^[3]

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On 26 October 2012, Sotoudeh was announced as a co-winner of the Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament. She shared the award with Iranian film director Jafar Panahi.^[18]

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Other Awards and honors

• 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award^[22]
• 2011 Southern Illinois University School of Law Rule of Law Citation^[23]
• 2011 Giuseppe Motta Medal^[24]
• 2012 Sakharov Prize^[18]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrin_Sotoudeh

Shirin Ebadi (Persian: شيرين عبادى‎ Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women’s, children’s, and refugee rights. She was the first ever Iranian to receive the prize.

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She was admitted to the law department of the University of Tehran in 1965 and in 1969, upon graduation, passed the qualification exams to become a judge. After a six-month internship period, she officially became a judge in March 1969. She continued her studies in University of Tehran in the meantime to pursue a doctorate’s degree in law in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman president of the Tehran city court, and also the first ever woman judge in Iran.^[8]

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On 10 October 2003, Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children.^[16] The selection committee praised her as a “courageous person” who “has never heeded the threat to her own safety”.^[17]

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Other awards received by Shirin Ebadi:

Rafto Prize (2001)
Nobel Peace Prize (2003)
JPM Interfaith Award (2004)
Legion of Honour (2006)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirin_Ebadi