TEHRAN, Iran – A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer who defended opposition activists has been convicted of security offenses and sentenced to 11 years in prison, her husband said Monday.
Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested Sept. 4, and supporters say she has been held in solitary confinement and has staged hunger strikes. State media reported in December that she was accused of spreading propaganda against the ruling system and of being part of an outlawed organization, the Defenders of Human Rights, which is affiliated with Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.
Sotoudeh also represented several of the more than 100 activists and political figures tried on charges of fomenting unrest after Iran's disputed presidential election in June 2009.
Her husband, Reza Khandan, told The Associated Press on Monday that he learned from her lawyers that she had been found guilty. He said the ruling also bars her from working as a lawyer for 20 years and from traveling abroad.
Khandan said his wife's lawyers would appeal the ruling in the next few weeks.
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