Nasrin Sotoudeh: Defender of human rights

Nasrin Sotudeh is a compassionate Iranian lawyer who is a voice for the voiceless. She is currently suffering in prison for defending human rights in Iran. Her story will be featured in my new book, Dear God: Please bring freedom to Iran."

            Proverbs 31:8-9  

      “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute,

                 Speak up and judge fairly: defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

                                                                                                                                               (NIV)

                The Bible exhorts us to be a voice for the voiceless, to stand up and defend the helpless and the oppressed. Whenever I am meditating on this scripture, I immediately think of Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer who is a champion of human rights. She represents the women who remove their veils and cry out for choice, she represents the families of juveniles who are put to death, and she represents the millions of desperate activists who are imprisoned for standing up to a dictatorship government for freedom of speech and religion.

            On June 13, 2018, Nasrin and her husband Reza were arrested together at their home and transferred to Evin Prison. Nasrin is no stranger to prison bars. It is hard to believe that a practicing attorney is put in jail for defending human rights, but in Iran human rights is an oxymoron. The Iranian regime has no respect for individual freedom or human rights. Under Sharia Law, it is either obey or be disciplined!

            Recently Nasrin had publicly criticized the government’s new rule of restricting the rights of activists and dissidents from hiring an independent lawyer. The rule stated that only a government appointed lawyer would be accepted and Nasrin dared to challenge the system. Prior to her arrest, Nasrin had been busy defending “The Girls of Revolution Street” for publicly removing their veils during the December 2017 uprising. The government lashed out on the women charging them with “encouraging immorality and prostitution,” charges that carried 10-year prison sentences! Nasrin objected to the charges, stating that the women had a right to protest, which brought down the wrath of the regime upon her.

            Prior to her current incarceration, Nasrin was arrested in 2011, for defending the protesters of the Green Movement which criticized the government in what they believed was a stuffed ballot box in the fraudulent re-election of Ahmadinejad in 2009. It was during this imprisonment that Nasrin went on a 49-day hunger strike protesting the unjust travel restrictions put on her two children. After a long and difficult battle which nearly took her life, the government relinquished their restrictions and Nasrin emerged, weak and exhausted, but victorious! A year later when Hassan Rouhani became president, he pardoned Nasrin in 2013 and she was finally free to rejoin her family. However, the regime removed her license to practice law and even though she was free from prison bars, Nasrin wasn’t free to resume the passion of her life in defending the voiceless.

            “I was released,” Nasrin proclaimed, “but I was not freed. For me this sort of freedom is meaningless when my friends are still in prison!”

            For Nasrin, freedom is only true freedom when those she has represented can finally go free from the hell they are living in.

            The U.S. State Department, in response to her recent arrest along with her husband Reza, spoke out against her unjust imprisonment.

            “We applaud Ms. Sotoudeh’s bravery and her fight for long-suffering victims of the regime. We call on Iranian authorities to release her immediately, along with the hundreds of others who are imprisoned simply for expressing their views and desires for a better life.”

            Proverbs 31 commands us to be a voice for the voiceless. Nasrin has spent her life standing up for the downtrodden and oppressed and now it’s our turn to speak up for her.

            While suffering in prison, Nasrin wrote an intimate and personal letter to her husband Reza, once again demonstrating her love and compassion for the hurting Iranians.

            “My dear Reza; Everyone ponders about their freedom while in prison. Although my freedom is also important to me, it is not more important than the justice that has been ignored and denied.”

            Nasrin is a glowing example of compassion for the voiceless. She is more committed to their freedom than her own! She truly is a symbol of hope and healing for the Iranian people.