Khosrow Alikordi to Voice of America: Pressure on Lawyers Intensified After Nationwide Protests of 2022

Khosrow Alikordi, lawyer for Fatemeh Sepahri and the family of the seeking justice for Abolfazl Adinehzadeh, stated in an interview with Voice of America on Wednesday, February 4, coinciding with "International Day of Lawyers at Risk," that the pressure from the Islamic Republic on independent lawyers has intensified following the nationwide protests of 2022. Alikordi, who is currently sentenced to one year in prison and fined for charges such as "disclosing secrets" and "spreading falsehoods," claims that the Islamic Republic has a fundamental problem with the independence of the legal profession from the government and the judiciary and cannot tolerate independent lawyers. He assessed the pressure from judicial and security institutions on independent lawyers, including disbarment or imprisonment, as unsuccessful, stating that these lawyers have consistently insisted on their ideals of seeking justice despite these pressures. According to this lawyer for political prisoners and families seeking justice, following the nationwide protests of 2022, security and judicial confrontations with the lawyers of the protesters have intensified. During the government crackdown on the nationwide protests of 2022, which began after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the custody of the morality police, 500 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands were arrested. Alikordi told Voice of America that the Iranian government has undermined judicial independence by establishing a center for judicial lawyers, bringing the legal profession under its control. He mentioned the approval of Article 48's clause as depriving defendants of certain political and security crimes of the right to choose their own lawyer and forcing them to have one of the lawyers approved by the head of the judiciary. Recently, news sources reported the granting of a "law license" to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the former prosecutor of Tehran, by the board of directors of the Central Bar Association. According to Khosrow Alikordi, since the nationwide protests of 2022, at least 130 lawyers across Iran have been summoned to courts, and some of them, including Saleh Nikbakht, lawyer for Mahsa (Zhina) Amini's family, and Arash Keykhosravi, have been sentenced to imprisonment or are currently in jail. The International Young Lawyers Association has also dedicated its 2024 report to the conditions of lawyers and the challenges related to their professional independence in Iran, urging the international community and the Iranian government to improve the situation of lawyers in Iran. A group of experts and special reporters from the United Nations also expressed serious concern on Monday, February 2, ahead of the "International Day of Lawyers at Risk," regarding the "intimidation and harassment" of lawyers in Iran. This day was named "International Day of Lawyers at Risk" after the killing of four lawyers and one of their staff on January 24, 1977, during an armed attack on their law office in Madrid, Spain. Golaleh Vatandoust, a lawyer, was sentenced to 80 months in prison. Yashar Tabrizi was subjected to "torture" by the IRGC; Zahra Saidianjou was deprived of her chosen lawyer. The controversial actions of the Central Bar Association included granting a "law license" to the infamous former prosecutor of Tehran, and there are exclusive reports of intelligence agencies attempting to dissolve the Human Rights Commission of the Bar Associations in Iran.