Five human rights organizations and international legal bodies have issued a joint statement condemning the judicial sentences handed down against three defense attorneys in Shiraz: Masoud Ahmadian, Nazanin Salari, and Mahmoud Taravat-ruy.
The statement was co-published on the official websites of the issuing entities, which include the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, Lawyers for Lawyers, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, the Centre for Supporters of Human Rights, and the International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger. These organizations emphasized that the criminal case against the attorneys stems directly from their professional activities in defending the rights of women and children, combating domestic violence and child marriage, and providing legal counsel to detained protesters.
The five institutions characterized the sentences as an assault on the independence of the legal profession, the right to a defense, and access to a fair trial. They called upon the authorities of the Islamic Republic to immediately annul the convictions of the three lawyers and to end the harassment and judicial prosecution of defense attorneys in Iran.
In recent years, numerous defense attorneys in Iran have faced arrest, suspension from practice, or judicial convictions for taking on political and human rights cases, or for their activism in defending the rights of women, children, and protesters. This ongoing trend has repeatedly drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and international bar associations.
