A prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh is one of Iran's leading women's rights activists.
Her clients have included opposition activists arrested following the 2009 pro-democracy protests, persecuted religious and ethnic minorities, and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. She has also represented the "Daughters of Revolution Street," women and girls opposed to the Islamic Republic's compulsory hijab law.
Sotoudeh has repeatedly called for the abolition of the death penalty and spoken out against the unjust execution of minors, religious and ethnic minorities, as well as protesters.
She has been frequently imprisoned, including in solitary confinement, since 2010, and in March 2019 was sentenced to a total of 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. In July 2021 she was granted medical furlough following a 46-day hunger strike, and has remained at home under conditional release.
She has received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize, PEN America's Freedom to Write Award, and the Right Livelihood Award and was the subject of the documentary film, Nasrin.