Providing protective publicity and support to unjustly jailed lawyers

Lawyers you can send a greetings card to

You’ve probably got a card, and possibly quite a few more, that you’re keeping in a box somewhere. Sent by a friend, a family member or a lover, carrying a touching or funny message. You didn’t recycle the card or just tore the stamp off, because it meant a lot and made a difference at that very time.

It is with this sentiment that at this time of the year Lawyers for Lawyers organizes a greeting cards campaign. Receiving a greeting card can mean all the difference to a lawyer in prison. Messages of solidarity strengthen and cheer up those suffering human rights abuses because of their work. And if you are wondering if the lawyers actually receive the cards? Many of them do! We received many messages from lawyers expressing their thanks for the cards they received from their international colleagues.

So join us, and send a card to a lawyer in prison! Please send your cards to the post office box below and mention the name of the lawyer you would like to address your card to in the card. Do not send any religious card or political statements. The team of Lawyers for Lawyers will make sure that your cards will be forwarded to the lawyer to whom you have addressed your card!

Lawyers for Lawyers
Greeting cards
Postbus 7113
1007 JC Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Selçuk Kozağaçlı

Selçuk Kozağaçlı from Turkey is a lawyer and member of the People’s Law Office who worked on many human rights cases. Selçuk Kozağaçlı is well- known for working on the “Soma Mine” disaster,the worst mine disaster in Turkey’s history, in which 301 miners were killed. He is also president of the ÇHD, an association which focuses on the right to life and advocates for the prevention of all types of attack on fundamental rights and human dignity. Selçuk Kozağaçlı was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months of imprisonment in connection to his work as a lawyer. Click here to read more.

Li Yuhan

Li Yuhan is a human rights lawyer from China. Li Yuhan represented sensitive matters of freedom of belief and access to government information. During the 709 crackdown she defended human rights lawyer Wang Yu. Li Yuhan was arrested on 9 October 2017 and has been imprisoned ever since. Li Yuhan’s trial was scheduled for April 9, 2019, but was postponed. A new trial date has not been announced yet. Her health has been in poor condition during her detention. Nevertheless, applications for bail have been denied. Click here to read more.

Maksim Znak

Lawyer Maksim Znak from Belarus represented opposition members. He was arrested on 9 September 2020, for allegedly having committed the offence of “calls to actions seeking to undermine national security”. In February 2021, additional charges were added, including “conspiracy to seize state power” and “organising extremism”. On 6 September 2021, Mr. Znak was sentenced to 10 years in prison during a closed-door-trial. Maksim Znak is one of the laureates of the 2021 Lawyers for Lawyers Award.

Waleed Abu al-Khair

Waleed Abu al-Khair is one of the best-known voices for democratic and human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia. As a lawyer he has been an outspoken advocate for an elected parliament, an independent judiciary, a constitutional monarchy and recognition of human rights. Waleed Abu Al-Khair was arrested in April 2014. On February 15, 2015, the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal in Riyadh confirmed a sentence of fifteen years in prison, a travel ban of equal duration following imprisonment and a fine. Click here to read more.

Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer who has acted as the lawyer for women’s rights activists who protested against the compulsory veiling in Iran and were subsequently prosecuted. She has also worked on other high profile cases such as Shirin Ebadi and Zahra Bahrami. Nasrin has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes in connection to her work as a lawyer. Click here to read more.

Buzurgmehr Yorov

Yorov is one of Tajikistan’s most eminent human rights lawyers, a reputation developed by taking on a number of high-profile legal cases, representing individuals prosecuted by the government of Tajikistan on politically-motivated charges. Yorov was arrested on 28 September 2015. At the time of his arrest, Yorov had just started to represent thirteen senior leaders of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). Yorov has been sentenced to 22 years imprisonment. Click here to read more.