Pressure on Lawyers to Sign 'Commitment Letters'; Indictment Issued Against Three Lawyers

A lawyer reported the trial of Mehdi Karimi Farsi, Sadegh Mostafavi Kashani, and Abouzar Nasrollahi, three of his colleagues, on charges of 'propaganda against the regime' in Branch 29 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran and the issuance of an indictment against them to Voice of America. Sina Yousfi, a lawyer, announced this news on Tuesday, February 5, stating that Abouzar Nasrollahi, Mehdi Karimi Farsi, and Sadegh Mostafavi Kashani did not appear at the prosecutor's office to sign a commitment letter, and therefore, an indictment was issued against them and sent to Branch 29 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court. The head of this branch is 'Ali Mazloom', and the court session for these three lawyers was held on Sunday, February 4. According to Sina Yousfi, judicial officials pressured his colleagues to 'confess to opposing and acting against the regime and the leader' and asked them to provide a written commitment denying these charges without permission to read the text accurately. The report states that due to time constraints, Abouzar Nasrollahi's defense was 'incomplete' during this court session. Yousfi added that besides these three, other lawyers including Mohsen Barahani, Mitra Izadifar, and Mohammad Hadi Jafarzadeh also faced legal cases and were summoned to Evin Prosecutor's Office in June to 'defend against the attributed charges.' Several human rights defense lawyers who have been summoned by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic have also faced pressure. According to a copy of the summons in the possession of Voice of America, it was emphasized that 'failure to appear will result in arrest.' Sina Yousfi stated that the judiciary is trying to 'eliminate all active lawyers in human rights cases.' Pressure on lawyers and legal experts has intensified in recent months following widespread protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, and several lawyers, including Arash Keykhosravi and Amir Salar Davoodi, are still in prison. Additionally, Maryam Arvin, a human rights lawyer who represented several detained protesters, suspiciously died shortly after her temporary release from prison. Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer for Fatemeh Sepahri and the family of the bereaved Abolfazl Adinehzadeh, stated in a recent interview with Voice of America, coinciding with 'International Day of Lawyers at Risk,' that the pressure from the Islamic Republic on independent lawyers has intensified since the widespread protests of 2022. Behnam Dariyazadeh, a legal expert, previously told Voice of America that the pressures on lawyers in the months following last year's protests are 'unprecedented in the last three decades.'