Iran Abdolfattah Soltani ends hungerstrike

L4L received information that Abdolfattah Soltani ended his hunger strike. He went on hunger strike on 2 November 2013 to protest against the lack of proper medical care for himself and other prisoners of conscious jailed in Tehran’s Evin prison.

Abdolfattah Soltani is a prominent human rights lawyer, and was spokesman for the Human Rights Defenders’ Center (CHRD). He co-founded the group with Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Shirin Ebadi.

On 4 March 2012, Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Soltani to 18 years in prison. The court also imposed a 20 year ban on his legal practice. The charges were described as “being awarded the 2009 Nuremberg International Human Rights Award,” “being interviewed by the media about his clients’ cases,” and “co-founding the Human Rights Defenders’ Center.” On 11 June 2012, his family was told that the Appeal Court had upheld his conviction but reduced his sentence to 13 years in prison.

L4L has campaigned for Soltani since 2006, when he was first arrested, by means of letter writing campaigns and drawing (international) attention to his situation through meetings and articles. L4L will remain to monitor his case closely.