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An Iranian rights group condemns 11-year sentence for lawyer

By the CNN Wires Staff
Nasrin Sotoudeh represented many of the people detained in the wake of the disputed 2009 presidential elections in Iran.
Nasrin Sotoudeh represented many of the people detained in the wake of the disputed 2009 presidential elections in Iran.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Charges against Sotoudeh include not wearing a hijab and propagandizing
  • Nasrin Sotoudeh defended people detained after Iran's disputed presidential election
  • Clients include Nobel Peace laureate and fellow lawyer Shirin Ebadi
RELATED TOPICS
  • Iran

(CNN) -- An Iranian human rights lawyer has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

The group called the sentence imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh a "gross miscarriage of justice" and demanded it be overturned.

Sotoudeh's sentence included five years for "acting against national security," another five years for not wearing a hijab -- a headscarf worn by Muslim women -- during a videotaped message, and an additional year for "propaganda against the regime," according to a statement by the rights group. Sotoudeh is also banned from practicing law or traveling for 20 years.

Sotoudeh served as a defense lawyer for many of the people detained in the wake of presidential elections in 2009. She was arrested on September 4 and has been held in solitary confinement, according to a statement from Reporters Without Borders.

One of her clients, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and fellow lawyer Shirin Ebadi, organized a sit-in at the United Nations in December, in support of Sotoudeh in December. "We are worried about her," Ebadi told CNN at the time. "We are worried for her life. It is very dangerous and she is in a critical situation."