For Defending Women's Rights: 33 Years in Prison, 148 Lashes

Iranian human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced by an Iranian court to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes. Yes, in the year 2019. Her crimes? Peacefully defending the human rights of women and working to abolish the death penalty in her country. She was also charged with the intolerable crime of selecting her own attorneys rather than choosing from a list of jurists approved by the government.

We are Amnesty International Group 342 -- a local affiliate of Amnesty International USA-- and we defend prisoners of conscience like Nasrin, who have committed no internationally recognized crimes other than expressing their views publicly and nonviolently. Our letters to government officials work! For example, on February 25, Somali poet Abdirahman Ibrahim Adan was acquitted of charges and released from prison. He had been arrested and detained on January 12 after reciting a poem in which he called on the Somaliland government to reform its prisons and judicial system.

We meet the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in Wegmans Café, 50 Foundry Way (at Rt. 29), Malvern, PA 19355. All are welcome. Join us whenever you can. Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 20.

Can't come to a meeting? Visit the Amnesty International USA website and send a petition on behalf of a prisoner of conscience.

Together we can light a candle of hope for those oppressed.