Abdolfattah Soltani
In 2009, Abdolfattah Soltani received the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award "for his struggle for human rights in his home country."
In 2012, Abdolfattah Soltani received the International Bar Association Human Rights Award "for his courage and commitment to the rule of law and human rights in Iran, enduring long-term prison sentences, harassment, and intimidation for providing pro-bono legal counsel to those in need."
Abdolfattah Soltani is a prominent Iranian human rights defender. He co-founded the Centre for Human Rights Defenders in Iran with Iranian Nobel Peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. His human rights work has included defending Iranian political prisoners and trade unionists belonging to the Tehran Bus Company Workers’ Union. He was involved in the case of the dissident journalist, Akbar Ganji, and represented the family of Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian born Canadian photojournalist who died in an Iranian prison under torture.
In Iran, human rights defenders and journalists are arrested, detained and prosecuted in unfair trials. HRDs continue to receive death threats and are subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention. They are refused bail or receive extreme bail conditions. Judicial harassment is one of the most common tactic used to silence HRDs and independent voices. Vaguely-worded charges of “acting against national security", “propaganda against the regime” or “enmity against God” are often used.
