Update 17 January
Reza Khandan, the husband of Shirin Ebadi's lawyer and a human rights advocate as well, was held in Tehran. Charges are still unknown, however it is thought they are related to the declarations he uttered last week against the harsh punishment inflicted to his wife. A 50,000 dollars bail was set.
10 January
11-year jail term to Nasrin Soutoudeh
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's lawyer
The Iranian bench sentenced lawyer and human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh, an aide to Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. to 11 years jail and the ban to practice her profession for 20 years. For 20 anni the woman will not be allowed to leave Iran, either.
So said her husband to press agency France Presse. The lawyer, who has been jailed since September, was found guilty of "actions against national security and antiregime propaganda, besides belonging to the Centre of Human Rights Defenders", the group of lawyers founded by the Nobel laureate.
In December the Iranian bench banned also Shirin Ebadi from leaving the Country, accusing her of fiscal evasion and seizing the whole of her goods. The Nobel laureate who lives abroad rejected this charge by appealing to the Audit Court.