Elham Zeraatpisheh, a defense attorney and member of the Fars Regional Bar Association, was released on bail on Wednesday, July 29. Her release comes after the First Branch of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court previously sentenced her to six years in prison, imposed a two-year travel ban, and revoked her passport.
According to the human rights organization HRANA, the Shiraz Revolutionary Court sentenced Zeraatpisheh to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime.” The court additionally imposed a two-year ban on leaving the country and ordered the cancellation of her passport.
Zeraatpisheh was arrested on May 4, 2026, near the Shiraz Sentence Enforcement Bureau. Judicial authorities have released no further details regarding the grounds for her arrest or the judicial proceedings in her case.
The defense attorney had previously faced pressure from security agencies due to her professional activities and her representation of individuals detained during protests. Following the nationwide demonstrations of January 2026, she and several colleagues resigned from the Fars Bar Association’s Media Commission in protest against what they described as the “inaction of the Fars Bar Association in safeguarding the rights of protesters.”
Pressure on defense lawyers in Iran has escalated in recent months. Astareh (Maryam) Ansari, another attorney and member of the Fars Bar Association, was recently arrested at her private residence in Shiraz. Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that the prosecution and imprisonment of lawyers defending political, security, and protest-related cases serve as a systematic mechanism to restrict defendants’ right to a defense and access to independent legal representation under the Islamic Republic.
https://iranwire.com/en/news/155662-defense-lawyer-released-on-bail-in-shiraz
