Amirsalar Davoudi (امیرسالار داوودی) is an Iranian human rights lawyer born on 21 June 1981. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and 111 lashes for his human rights work. The charges on which he has been convicted include "insulting officials", "insulting the Supreme Leader", and "spreading propaganda against the system". He was arrested on 20 November 2018 and has been detained in Tehran's Evin prison with extremely limited access to his family and lawyer.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Davoudi, in the past years, has been defending some of Iranian political prisoners and religious and ethnic minorities. He was also active on social media criticizing the violation of human rights in his country.

Arrest

On 20 November 2018 security forces arrested Davoudi in his office in Tehran and transferred him to Evin prison where many other political prisoners are kept. His arrest was part of a crackdown against active lawyers. Davoudi was among four lawyers arrested for their human rights activities.

Charges and sentence

On 1 June 2019 Amirsalar Davoudi was sentenced to 30 years in jail plus 111 lashes. Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by

Abolqasem Salavati Abolqasem Salavati ( fa, ابوالقاسم صلواتی) (born 16 July 1967) is an Iranian judge and former head of the 15th branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, Iran. In recent years, he had been the judge of numerous controversi ...

sentenced Amirsalar to 111 lashes and a total of 30 years in prison1; 15 years for “forming a group to overthrow the political system” (through his Telegram channel, "No Retouch" where he discussed breaches in judicial processes, the judicial harassment of lawyers and human rights abuses), “propaganda against the system” (for his interviews with VOA), “publishing lies”and “insulting officials and the leader” amongst other charges. On 30 July 2019, his sentence was upheld. Davoudi’s lawyer, Vahid Moshkani Farahani, said in an interview with Modara website, “Besides the 30 years of imprisonment in which 15 years will be implemented, Mr Davoudi has been sentenced to 111 lashes, a fine of Rls.60 million (around US$4,000) court fine and deprivation of his social rights for two years.”

Hunger Strike

In its annual report in February 2020,

reported that Lawyer and human rights activist Amirsalar Daoudi, who is presently jailed at Tehran Evin prison, has been on hunger strike since 9 February 2020.

International reaction

Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa to the Amnesty International, called Davoudi's detainment a shocking injustice and that he was being punished for his advocating human rights. Philip Luther called for Davoudi's immediate release.

Awards

* 2019:

Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) is an association gathering together bar associations of 32 countries in Europe (those of the European Union, of the European Economic Area and of Switzerland), The United Kingdom, and an ad ...

(CCBE) Human Rights Award * 2022: Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize

References