Abdolfattah Soltani, an Iranian human rights lawyer, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, exile and a 20-year ban from practising law.
The RAHANA Human Rights House of Iran reports that Soltani was charged with “propaganda against the regime, establishing the Human Rights Defenders Centre and assembly and collusion against the regime.”
The report indicates that he is also charged with “acquiring pelf” by receiving the Nuremberg Human Rights Award in 1995.
Soltani has been under arrest for more than seven months in Evin Prison. He was also arrested six years ago and was held in solitary confinement for 219 days.
Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran’s prosecutor at the time, had charged him with spying for revealing information about his clients. He was sentenced to five years in jail and a five-year ban from practising law, but the appeals court cleared him of all charges.
