AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 

NEWSFLASH

3 June 2019

Iran: Sentencing of human rights lawyer to 

30 years in prison and 111 lashes ‘a 

shocking injustice’

Responding to the news that Iranian human rights lawyer 

Amirsalar Davoudi has been sentenced to 30 years in prison 

and 111 lashes for his human rights work, including publicizing 

violations through a channel he set up on the Telegram 

mobile messaging app and by giving media interviews, 

Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy 

Director for the Middle East and North Africa, 

Philip Luther, said: 

“This shockingly harsh sentence is an outrageous injustice. 

Amirsalar Davoudi is blatantly being punished for his work 

defending human rights. 

“Setting up a Telegram channel to expose human rights 

violations is not a crime. The Iranian authorities must 

release Armisalar Davoudi immediately and 

unconditionally.

“Amirsalar Davoudi is the latest victim of a vicious 

crackdown waged by the Iranian authorities against 

human rights lawyers over the past two years, 

which has seen Iranian courts hand out increasingly 

harsh sentences to stop them from being able to 

carry out their work. 

“With this sentence, Iran’s authorities have demonstrated

 that human rights lawyers in Iran today are effectively 

treated as enemies of the state and that the authorities

 will go to any lengths to deny individuals in detention 

access to justice.” 

Under Iran’s sentencing guidelines, Amirsalar Davoudi 

will have to serve 15 years of his prison sentence. 

The news of his case follows the sentencing of 

prominent lawyer and women’s rights defender 

Nasrin Sotoudeh to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes, 

prompting an international outcry. In accordance 

with Iran’s sentencing guidelines, the actual term 

she has to serve is 17 years.

https://www.amnesty.ca/news/iran-sentencing-
human-rights-lawyer-30-years-prison-and-111-
lashes-‘-shocking-injustice’