New Judicial Case: October 2025 Interrogation
On October 6, 2025, while still serving his prison sentence in Evin Prison, Mohammad Najafi, a human rights lawyer, faced a new interrogation session held in absentia at Branch 3 of the Prosecutor’s Office of District 33 (Shahid Moghaddas) in Tehran.
In this latest case, he has been charged with “propaganda against the regime,” “spreading falsehoods,” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
A bail of 1.1 billion tomans was issued in his absence. This is the sixth judicial case opened against Najafi during his imprisonment—further evidence that even incarceration has not shielded him from continued judicial harassment.
Najafi, who suffers from severe diabetes, heart complications, and spinal disc injury, remains deprived of medical care and continues to face new prosecutions.
In a letter from prison, he wrote:
“I stood on the side of the people; my crime is defending the protesters and the families of the slain.”
These words encapsulate his journey—from defense to punishment.
The Beginning: A Lawyer Who Spoke the Truth
Born in 1975 in Shazand, Central Province, Mohammad Najafi was among the first lawyers to courageously defend protesters after the nationwide demonstrations of December 2017.
Following his investigation into the suspicious death of Vahid Heydari at Police Station No. 12 in Arak, Najafi was arrested.
While authorities claimed Heydari’s death was a “suicide,” Najafi documented testimonies proving he died under torture.
That act of truth-telling marked the start of relentless persecution.
Over the past seven years, Najafi has faced six separate prosecutions with 14 charges, amounting to over 21 years of imprisonment, 74 lashes, and fines.
Every time a sentence approached completion, a new case was filed against him—an unmistakable pattern of silencing independent lawyers.
Permanent Disbarment: Silencing the Voice of Justice
The final blow to Najafi’s professional life came on December 22, 2024, when the High Disciplinary Court for Judges issued a ruling for his permanent disbarment.
This process began in March 2020 with a politically motivated complaint.
In January 2024, the Central Bar Association’s Disciplinary Court ruled to discontinue the proceedings, but the then–Prosecutor General of the Bar appealed, and the case was transferred to the High Disciplinary Court—a body without jurisdiction over lawyers.
Iran: From Defense to Punishment, The Case of Mohammad Najafi
