Amirsalar Davoudi
Amirsalar Davoudi 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 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 sentenced Amirsalar to 111 lashes and a total of 30 years in prison1; 15 years for “forming a group to overthrow the political system”, “propaganda against the system”, “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 court fine and deprivation of his social rights for two years.”
In its annual report in February 2020, Amnesty International reported that Davoudi, who still held in Evin prison, had been on a hunger strike since 9 February 2020.