Iranian of the Day

ICHRI: Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced lawyer and co-founder of Center for Human Rights Defenders to 18 years in Borazjan Prison and 20 years' ban on his legal practice. One of Soltani's lawyers was served with the ruling on Sunday, 4 March. Massoumeh Dehghan, Abdolfattah Soltani's wife, confirmed the news for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and stated that the ruling is completely disproportionate to Soltani's charges, and though it may have just been issued to satisfy some, she hopes that the ruling would be overturned at appeals stage.

"The ruling was served to one of Mr. Soltani's lawyers who had gone to the court to follow up. He said that the Mr. Soltani's ruling was about 60 to 70 pages. But Mr. Soltani did not even defend himself, because he did not believe his court to be qualified. I believe this ruling was issued based on the charges leveled against him, and not based on Mr. Soltani's defense. I believe it is even disproportionate to the charges," she said.

"I believe this ruling was issued to just satisfy some, as this ruling is not rational, fair, or proportionate to the charges. It appears that some people wanted to seek satisfaction by issuing maximum punishment for him. I am hopeful that having achieved what they wanted, they would somehow compensate for the damage they have caused at appeals level," Abdolfattah Soltani's wife told the Campaign.

Asked whether her husband was under pressure for false confessions, too, Massoumeh Dehghan told the Campaign, "On his trial day, Mr. Soltani told his lawyers that 'someone came to me and asked me to speak against the Center for Defenders [of Human Rights] and Ms. Shirin Ebadi, and I told him that the center has not done anything illegal.' I remember this is what he told his lawyers."

Massoumeh Dehghan said that Soltani is not yet aware of his sentence and said about an appeal, "Mr. Soltani's lawyers will definitely write their defense bill and ask for an appointment to consult with him, and they will then present their bill to the court. This is the legal process, but I don't know what would happen afterwards. If this case is reviewed in a fair and qualified court, the sentence will definitely be overturned and like the other time, he will be acquitted. We only hope that those who would review the case in the appeals court are impartial and fair."

Abdolfattah Soltani, a distinguished human rights lawyer, was arrested on 10 September 2011. At an 8 January trial at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court under Judge Pirabbasi, Soltani faced three charges: “being awarded the [2009] Nuremberg International Human Rights Award,” “interviewing with media about his clients’ cases,” and “co-founding the Center for Human Rights Defenders.” In 2003, Abdolfattah Soltani co-founded the Center for Human Rights Defenders along with Shirin Ebadi, Mohammad Seifzadeh, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, and Mohammad Sharif. He was the defense lawyer of many Iranian political and civil activists, including Akbar Ganji, Haleh Esfandiari, Zahra Kazemi’s family, Zahra Baniyaghoub’s family, several Nationalist-Religious activists, and members of the Tehran Bus Company Workers’ Union. He was arrested once before in 2009, and was released after more than two months in prison.

"As of his call from prison yesterday, his situation remains the same. He remains inside Ward 209 of Evin Prison, even though he should be transferred to the General Ward. He has not yet received the books we sent him. But he is sick and his illness is something he developed during his stay in prison. He suffers from intestinal problems and needs to walk a lot and eat a suitable diet, which is not possible inside prison. For example, he must eat fruits everyday which is not possible inside the prison. I only hope that the food and water he receives are healthy," said Abdolfattah Soltani's wife.