Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Iranwire – Two UN experts marked International Day of the Endangered Lawyer on January 24 with a statement hailing lawyers in Iran for their “brave commitment to the rule of law and their persistent efforts to exercise their profession independently and with integrity despite enormous obstacles and pressures.”
At least 66 lawyers have been arrested and detained since nationwide protests erupted in September 2022, “apparently in an attempt to both intimidate them and to prevent them from representing protestors,” the experts said in their statement, adding that 11 of these lawyers have been sentenced and 47 have been released pending trial.
Many other lawyers who provided, or attempted to provide, legal support to protesters were targeted with intimidation, harassment and disbarment, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
“The arrests, detention, and sentencing of lawyers is part of a continuous pattern in which lawyers have been subjected to prolonged pre-trial detention, unfair trials based on vaguely worded or overly broad laws, lengthy prison sentences, and ill-treatment, denial of medical care and prolonged solitary confinement merely for carrying out their duties as members of the legal profession or legitimate human rights advocacy,” the UN experts said.
“More broadly, lawyers in Iran often work in peril within a legal profession that has been restricted through rules and regulations that contravene international standards relating to the free and independent exercise of the legal profession and the right to fair trial,” they added.
The experts called on the Islamic Republic to “put in place all appropriate measures to ensure that lawyers can play their crucial role in the legal system and that they are not subject to, or threatened with, prosecution or any administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognised professional duties, standards and ethics.”
