Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh Langarudi (; born 1963) is an Iranian human rights lawyer known for her defense of activists, opposition politicians, and individuals facing human rights violations. She has represented Iranian opposition activists and politicians detained after the disputed June 2009 presidential elections and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi. She has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, which is a punishable offense in Iran. Her work has led to several arrests and periods of prison in Iran, and punishment by lashing, the latest being in April 2026, during the 2026 Iran war.

Sotoudeh was the subject of Nasrin, a 2020 documentary filmed in secret in Iran about her life and work.

Early life and education Nasrin Sotoudeh was born in 1963 in Tehran, Iran, into a "religious, middle-class" Iranian family. Her father is Aghajan Sotoudeh and her mother Safoura Fakhrian.

She had hoped to study philosophy in college and ranked 53rd in the Iranian national university entrance exam, but lacked high enough marks to get a place and ended up studying law at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. After completing her master's degree in international law from the university in 1989,

Sotoudeh took and passed the bar exam (Kanoon Vokala) successfully in 1995 but had to wait another eight years to be given her permit to practice law. She represented the families of Ahmad Nejati Kargar and Meysam Ebadi, killed by security forces after the 2009 election. The authorities had also been warning her that she would be imprisoned if she continued to represent Shirin Ebadi.

Following Sotoudeh's arrest, Shirin 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. Sotoudeh, who was imprisoned in Evin Prison, was reportedly held in solitary confinement. In mid-September 2011, an appeals court reduced Sotoudeh's prison sentence to six years; her ban from working as a lawyer was reduced to ten years.

During her period of detention, Sotoudeh went on three hunger strikes. According to her husband, Sotoudeh ended her hunger strike four weeks later, on 23 October. On the 47th day of strike, her husband stated:Now her health condition is so drastic that I don't expect her steady until our next meeting. Dizziness, impaired vision, unsteadiness in walking and low pressure are alarming signs of deterioration, besides the extreme thinness. On 4 December 2012 Sotoudeh stopped her hunger strike after 49 days following a short visit of some parliament members at Evin prison where they acknowledged and implemented her requests on lifting her daughter's travel ban. On 29 August 2018, Sotoudeh began a hunger strike to protest her detention and government harassment of her family and friends.

International response The international community widely condemned Sotoudeh's imprisonment. The US condemned what it called the "unjust and harsh verdict" against Sotoudeh, and called her "a strong voice for rule of law and justice in Iran". On 20 December 2010, Amnesty International held a day-long protest at the Iranian embassy in London to protest her imprisonment. In January 2011, the Law Society of England and Wales also issued a call for her release. European Union High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stated of the prize, "I am following the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh and other human rights defenders with great concern ... We will continue to campaign for the charges against them to be dropped. We look to Iran to respect the human rights obligations it has signed up to". Human rights defender and freelance journalist William Nicholas Gomes demanded Immediate and unconditional release of Sotoudeh in August 2018.

Release Sotoudeh was released on 18 September 2013 along with ten other political prisoners, including opposition leader Mohsen Aminzadeh, days before an address by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the United Nations. No explanation was given for her early release.

Third arrest and sentencing Sotoudeh was arrested again in June 2018. According to her lawyer, she was charged with espionage, dissemination of propaganda and disparaging the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei.

On 22 August 2018, 60 members of the European Parliament called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to forcefully work for Sotoudeh's "unconditional release."

On 6 March 2019, she was convicted in absentia, after refusing to attend the trial before Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Court because she was unable to select her counsel. She was charged with several offenses, including being a member of a human rights organization and stoking "corruption and prostitution".

On 11 March, Judge Mohammad Moqiseh told the Islamic Republic News Agency she was sentenced to five years for endangering the country's security through assembly and two years for insulting Khamenei. Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, said that only the longest sentence of these would be served, which is 10 years imprisonment (for "encouraging corruption and debauchery and providing the means"), out of a total 33 years for seven charges bundled together; this was in addition to five years for another case, bringing the total to 38 years, plus 148 lashes.

On 28 July 2020, Khandan reported that Sotoudeh's bank accounts had been frozen on the orders of the Prosecutor's Office despite none of the charges against her being finance related.

On 11 August 2020, Sotoudeh went on hunger strike, publishing a letter demanding the release of political prisoners, reading: "The appellate process, parole, suspending execution sentences and a new law intent on issuing minimum sentences were all promised, but the enforcement of all these legal rights are assigned to interrogators who apply them extrajudicially, closing the last door on political prisoners." Sotoudeh ended her hunger strike on September 26 due to deteriorating health.

On 17 August 2020, her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, was arrested at her home by security forces and released on bail later in the day. Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "The harassment is aimed at silencing Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is defending basic human rights with her hunger strike. The international community must prevent further harassment of human rights defenders by standing with Nasrin Sotoudeh"

On 20 October 2020, Sotoudeh was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.

On 7 November 2020, she was temporarily freed, having tested positive for COVID-19, then returned to Qarchak Prison on 2 December 2020.

On 9 February 2021, her husband Reza Khandan's bank accounts were also frozen. Speaking to Iran Human Rights he said: "Arresting my daughter and freezing my bank accounts are evidence that punishments have become familial, and when they want to punish an individual, they may violate their civil rights and privacy and even have them fired, freeze their bank accounts, ban them from leaving the country, in other words, use every opportunity to put pressure on that individual or their family members."

She was released on a five-day medical furlough on 21 July 2021 due to a heart problem, during which she underwent an angioplasty.

Sotoudeh was arrested again in October 2023, at the funeral of teenager Armita Geravand, who went into a coma and died after allegedly being assaulted by the Islamic religious police for not wearing a hijab.

Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty said; "Jailing a human rights defender for her peaceful activities is abhorrent but the fact that the judge in Nasrin Sotoudeh's case used his discretion to ensure that she stays locked up for more than is required under Iranian law compounds the outrageous injustice of her sentence".

In April 2019, actor and activist Nazanin Boniadi was interviewed by CBC News Network anchor Natasha Fatah about female activists in Iran, including Sotoudeh. Boniadi said that Sotoudeh should be lauded and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and also spoke of the bad reputation of the prison, where people were regularly tortured. She also spoke of the lack of support worldwide for the ordinary people of Iran.

In August 2021, a group of Democratic senators introduced a resolution condemning Iran for the unjust imprisonment of Sotoudeh. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sponsored the resolution along with eight other Senate Democrats, including Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

In an interview with Rouhollah Zamzameh, Nasrin Sotoudeh stated that patriarchal authoritarian systems lose their political legitimacy when women actively resist discriminatory laws and moral control. She emphasized that Iran’s Revolutionary Courts function as instruments of systematic repression rather than justice, and argued that the current judicial system is not reformable, calling instead for the establishment of a secular judiciary through a democratic referendum. Fourth arrest Sotoudeh was again arrested in 2023.

Personal life Sotoudeh married Reza Khandan in 1994. and was held in Evin Prison. The family reported that their son was beaten by officials while attempting to visit her. He was still being held as of April 2026.

On 13 April 2026, HRANA reported that human rights lawyer Sotoudeh has been missing for 12 days following her arrest. On 13 May 2026, she was released on bail following a court appearance.

Recognition and awards 2008: International Human Rights Organization of Italy's Human Rights Prize (but barred from leaving the country to accept the honor; received by her husband on her behalf) 2011: Southern Illinois University School of Law Rule of Law Citation 2011: Giuseppe Motta Medal 2012: Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament 2018: Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize, an annual tribute for a lawyer (Nelson Mandela being the first recipient in 1986) 2019: Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, accepted on her behalf by fellow human rights lawyer Saeid Dehghan 2019: Franz Werfel Human Rights Award 2019: Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe Human Rights Award 2020: Human Rights Prize of the German Judges Association 2020: Right Livelihood Award 2020: Keys to the City of Florence 2020: Listed on the BBC's 100 Women list 2021: Named as one of Time'''s 100 Most Influential People in the World 2023: Heroine Award from the Alice Schwarzer Foundation in Germany, received by Sotoudeh's friend Mansoureh Shojaee on her behalf 2023: Civil Courage Prize from the Train Foundation (U.S.)

She was the subject of a 2020 documentary film, Nasrin, filmed in secret in Iran about her ongoing activism and her professional and personal life leading up to her second arrest in 2018. Advised by Sotoudeh's husband, Nasrin'' was made by American filmmakers Jeff Kaufman and his wife Marcia Ross, and narrated by Olivia Colman.