Iran human rights lawyer acquitted by appeals court News
Iran human rights lawyer acquitted by appeals court

[JURIST] An Iranian appeals court has acquitted human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani [Amnesty appeal; Wikipedia profile] of charges related to espionage after he spent seven months in prison, Soltani said Monday. According to Soltani, the appeals court held that there was "no proof" of illegal action on his part. Soltani was sentenced to five years imprisonment [JURIST report] for allegedly disclosing confidential information and engaging in propaganda against the government.

Soltani worked with Tehran's Defenders of Human Rights Center, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi [Nobel profile]. He represented dissident journalist Akbar Ganji [PEN American Center profile] and the family of Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi [CBC backgrounder report; JURIST news archive], who died in Iranian custody in July 2003. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

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