Mohammad Seifzadeh Summoned for Prison Sentence Execution

Human rights sources from Iran have reported that Mohammad Seifzadeh, a human rights lawyer, has been summoned for the execution of his prison sentence despite suffering from chronic heart disease that led to his hospitalization. The Iran Human Rights Campaign announced on Wednesday, August 24, that Mr. Seifzadeh, 76 years old and a prominent figure in human rights advocacy in Iran since the revolution, has recently been summoned to Evin Prison. This lawyer, who was a founding member of the Iranian Human Rights Defenders Association, was sentenced to one year in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court last year on charges of 'propaganda against the regime and spreading falsehoods.' This sentence was confirmed by the appeals court and referred to the first branch of Evin Prison's execution of sentences. Seifzadeh stated that he would not attend the Revolutionary Court sessions. He was prosecuted for publishing a letter signed by a group of lawyers and human rights defenders addressed to the UN Secretary-General regarding the suppression of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests by the Islamic Republic. The letter was signed by 45 individuals. In mid-December 2022, he and Nasrin Sotoudeh issued a joint letter declaring the Revolutionary Court 'lacking legal legitimacy' and emphasized the 'lack of fair trial in the judiciary and the bias of judges' in the Islamic Republic, calling for the unconditional release of all detainees from that year's protests and the annulment of all sentences issued against them. Last year, Seifzadeh announced in a video that he does not recognize the court that is set to address his charges. He previously told Radio Farda that he was asked to write a 'repentance letter' due to his letter to the UN Secretary-General. In 2010, Mohammad Seifzadeh was sentenced to nine years in prison and a ten-year ban from practicing law for founding the Human Rights Defenders Association.