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October 13, 2010

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has called for the release of jailed Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is reportedly on hunger strike in Evin prison to protest her incarceration.

Havel made the call at the close of the Forum 2000 conference in Prague attended by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.

Nasrin SotoudehMore from :

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, informed the Forum 2000 international conference of politicians and intellectuals about the Sotoudeh case on Tuesday.

Havel, himself a former leading dissident, voiced support to Sotoudeh in the same way he previously supported dissidents in China, Cuba, Burma and other countries.

Sotudeh, who was arrested in early September, has defended a number of well-known intellectuals and political activists.

Rights groups including and Amnesty International have said that Sotoudeh was jailed “solely in connection with her work defending others.”

You can read more about the increased pressure on Sotoudeh and Iranian lawyers involved in sensitive political cases .