Video: In Solidarity with Nasrin Sotoudeh

Iranwire – With days to go until the dawn of the new Persian calendar year on March 21, hundreds of innocent people in Iran are facing the prospect of spending Nowruz behind bars. They include activists, journalists, lawyers, prisoners of conscience, political prisoners and dual nationals: some are being held hostage, but most are there because the insecure Iranian regime construes them as an existential threat.

One of the most high-profile of these is Nasrin Sotoudeh, an attorney who was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison in 2019 for her professional defense of women’s rights activists inside Iran. A powerful documentary about her life and achievements, directed by American filmmaker Jeff Kaufman, was released last year and is now available to view in many countries around the world. In partnership with its creators, IranWire has also published the film in Farsi.

Nasrin’s case has attracted international attention and has recently been cited as an example of ongoing violations in the country by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. Every day this dedicated lawyer remains in arbitrary detention is a further blow to the Islamic Republic’s credibility – to say nothing of the harm it has caused to her family and the people she advocated for. Now a group of prominent public figures and celebrities have added their voices to the campaign for her unconditional release.

This new short video, In Solidarity with Nasrin Sotoudeh, features the following acclaimed figures:

Bryan Stevenson
Founder/Executive Director,
The Equal Justice Initiative

Christine Baranski
Tony and Emmy-winning actress

Rainn Wilson
Emmy-nominated actor

Angélique Kidjo
Grammy-winning singer

Olivia Colman
Academy Award-winning actress

Margaret Atwood
Booker Prize-winning author

Kerry Kennedy
President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Maz Jobrani
Comedian and actor

Christiane Amanpour
CNN Chief International Anchor
Host of “Amanpour”

Nicholas Kristof
New York Times Columnist