Arrest of Jawad Ali-Kordi, Lawyer for Victims' Families, in Mashhad

Khosrow Ali-Kordi, a lawyer and former political prisoner, reported the arrest of his brother, Jawad Ali-Kordi, and his transfer to Mashhad prison. Khosrow Ali-Kordi informed Voice of America on Saturday, March 2, that while he was imprisoned, his brother, Jawad, took on the legal representation of his clients, including Fatemeh Sepahri and her family, as well as the family of the victim Abolfazl Adinehzadeh. Khosrow Ali-Kordi also explained in a note on X that the arrest of his brother, a lawyer and university professor, on March 2 comes just one month after his own release on February 1. According to the news agency HRANA, the news outlet of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, Jawad Ali-Kordi was sentenced in March 2022 to more than four years in prison and supplementary penalties on charges including 'forming and managing a group with the aim of overthrowing the government,' 'propaganda against the regime,' and 'insulting the leadership.' The report states that this sentence, which had been suspended for three years after serving part of the sentence, was reinstated following the initiation of a new case against Jawad Ali-Kordi in December of this year on the charge of 'propaganda against the regime.' Pressure on critical lawyers and legal experts and the fabrication of cases against them by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran has intensified in recent years. Two lawyers announced in February of this year that the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Mashhad had issued indictments against at least 17 lawyers on the charge of 'propaganda against the regime.' Following the widespread protests in Iran in 2022, the Islamic Republic arrested at least 44 lawyers and sentenced several of them to prison, professional bans, and other social restrictions.