Arrest of Payam Darafshan and Farakh Forouzan, Two Lawyers

Payam Darafshan and Farakh Forouzan, two lawyers, were arrested on Friday, September 9, at the home of the family of Arash Kikhisravi, a jailed lawyer. Mohammad Najafi, another lawyer, announced on Facebook that Darafshan and Forouzan were detained at the Kikhisravi family's home in Karaj. No report has been published regarding the reason for the arrest of these two lawyers. Payam Darafshan represents Arash Kikhisravi, who was arrested on Saturday, August 27, along with Qasem Shaleh-Saadi and Masoud Javadieh, two other lawyers, in front of the parliament. Qasem Shaleh-Saadi had announced in a video that he was protesting the supervisory oversight in front of the parliament, inspired by Mohammad Mossadegh. Payam Darafshan and Arash Kikhisravi also represent the family of Kavous Seyed Emami. Nasrin Sotoudeh, another lawyer, was arrested on June 13 and has been on a hunger strike since September 3 in protest against her detention and the pressure on her family and relatives. Zeinab Taheri, lawyer for Mohammad Thalath, was also arrested after announcing her intention to publish "documents of her client's innocence," but she was released on bail on August 7. However, the program monitoring the support for human rights defenders expressed concern over the continued judicial harassment of Zeinab Taheri and urged Iranian authorities to end the "harassment against her and all human rights defenders in the country." In recent years, several lawyers, including Abdolfattah Soltani, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Mohammad Seifzadeh, Mohammad Oliaei-Far, Mohammad Najafi, Sara Sabaghian, and Maryam Kian Arsi have been arrested, with some sentenced to long prison terms. Mostafa Daneshjou, another lawyer for Gonabadi Dervishes, was also arrested in the early hours of Sunday, July 8. Human Rights Watch on Friday, August 26, referring to other imprisoned human rights lawyers in Iran, including Narges Mohammadi and Abdolfattah Soltani, stated that the Ministry of Intelligence of Rouhani's government, while "trying to present itself as a more moderate security agency, is, like the IRGC Intelligence Organization, a fundamental part of the government's severe repression against human rights defenders."