Brussels, 24/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Concerned about the three year ban on the activities of human rights lawyer and 2012 Sakharov Prize winner, Nasrin Sotoudeh, the EU called on the Iranian authorities on Thursday 23 October to permit the Bar Association to reverse its decision to suspend Sotoudeh's licence to practise law. Indeed, as the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said, “the ruling [to suspend Sotoudeh] seems to have been issued following undue pressure on the Iranian Bar Association”. Ashton's spokesperson underlined that the EU was concerned about the declining independence of the Bar Association in Iran, which could have implications for other lawyers, including human rights lawyers.
On Wednesday 22 October, the president of the European Parliament called on the Iranian government to let Sotoudeh “work freely and without restriction” (see EUROPE 11182). (CG)