Murder of Lawyer with Eight Bullets; Reactions: The Islamic Republic is Responsible for Violence

A 51-year-old lawyer named Ali Soleimani was shot dead with eight bullets on Saturday, October 20, in front of the Arbitration Council in a city in Fars Province. Two lawyers attributed the responsibility to the Islamic Republic. The Vice President of the Bar Association of Fars and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces told the specialized lawyers' media that Mr. Soleimani, a member of the Bar Association of these provinces, had a court session in the city of Juyim related to real estate matters, and the murder was committed by the opposing party in the client's case. According to Ali Shayani-Manesh, the opposing party in Ali Soleimani's case consisted of a father and son. After this session, 'one of the parties in the case (the son) shot at him with eight bullets from a Kalashnikov,' and he 'died instantly.' The Vice President of the Bar Association of Fars and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad stated that the shooter 'has fled,' but his father was arrested on the spot. Meanwhile, the Young Journalists Club reported, citing Mohammad Yousafi, the police chief of Laristan, that the '70-year-old shooter,' who was 'armed with two Kalashnikovs and a pistol,' has been arrested, and the investigation into the murder is underway. According to the police chief of Laristan, the shooter was present in the court session due to 'real estate disputes' and 'shot at the opposing party with a Kalashnikov he had prepared in advance, but the bullets hit 'his counterpart, Ali Soleimani, leading to his murder.' Qasem Badi, a lawyer, reacted to the killing of his colleague Ali Soleimani by posting images of the deceased lawyers on social media, stating: 'The Islamic Republic is at the forefront of responsibility for these murders. When it creates the conditions for such actions through media manipulation, destruction in its legislative body, and disrespect in its judicial body, its responsibility is no less than that of the perpetrators of these acts.' Sina Yousafi, another lawyer, stated: 'The murder and attacks on lawyers have increased to such an extent that it can be termed a crisis situation for the institution.' According to this lawyer, 'systematic repression of human rights lawyers, systematic attacks on the independence of the legal profession, the enactment of laws aimed at undermining the position of lawyers in society, humiliating lawyers in commissioned films by state media, and humiliating lawyers at court entrances through body searches' are all part of the reasons for the increase in assaults and murders of lawyers in recent years, and 'the responsibility for these lost lives lies not only with the government but also with those who sit at the top of the associations as managers and watch the murders of their colleagues.' Previously, the head of the Iranian Bar Association had stated that over the past ten years, about 20 murders and more than 60 serious assassination attempts against lawyers have been reported.