Iran
Nasrin Sotoudeh: UN Working Group opinion and current status
This opinion concerns an earlier period of detention, from her arrest on 4 September 2010. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found her detention arbitrary, falling within categories II and III. It requested her immediate release and adequate reparation, and said she had a claim to compensation under article 9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.1
Category IICategory III
Government position
According to the opinion, the Government replied on 4 February 2011. It said she was charged with assembly and conspiracy against state security, propaganda against the system and membership of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, and stated that "the judgment is not final and subject to appeal".1
Background
According to the opinion, Ms. Sotoudeh, a lawyer, was arrested on 4 September 2010 and held in Evin Prison. The source said that on 9 January 2011 she was sentenced to 11 years and banned from practising law and from leaving Iran for 20 years.1
Status now
Detained by Iranian intelligence agents at her home in Tehran in early April 2026, her daughter told AP on 2 April 2026. AP reported no immediate word on the reason. Democracy Now reported that she had been out on bail for health reasons at the time.2,3
As of 6 April 2026.
Sources
- University of Minnesota Human Rights Library (copy of UN document), Opinion No. 21/2011 (Islamic Republic of Iran), A/HRC/WGAD/2011/21, full text mirror (6 May 2011)
- Associated Press (via Arab News), Leading Iranian human rights lawyer detained in Tehran, daughter says (2 April 2026)
- Democracy Now, Iranian Authorities Arrest Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh in Tehran (6 April 2026)