Crackdown Aimed at Destroying Any Chance of Fair Trials for Protesters
Detainees Forced to Use Court-Appointed Lawyers
While the Islamic Republic has been gunning down and executing street protesters, it has also been arresting defense attorneys—at least 44 since September—to block their ability to seek justice for arbitrarily arrested activists and street protesters, according to research by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
Meanwhile, detainees continue to be forced to use lawyers from a list approved by Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, a known human rights violator. This list only includes court-approved lawyers who either collaborate with the state security establishment or who do not have the resources to defend their clients.
“Due process in line with internationally recognized standards hasn’t existed in the Islamic Republic for decades,” said Ghaemi. “Yet there are still lawyers in the country who try to squeeze out any form of defense they can for their clients, or advocate for them publicly, which is why the Islamic Republic is jailing them.”
“The Islamic Republic is trying to silence dissent from every angle, including by killing or jailing those who raise their voices and completely eliminating defendants’ right to a fair trial,” he added.
“Human rights lawyers have been a lifeline and voice for activists seeking basic rights, so the authorities are trying to eliminate the last few lawyers in Iran still able and willing to take on these cases,” he said.
CHRI urges bar associations around the world to highlight individual cases of detained rights lawyers and strongly condemn their persecution, especially in international forums such as legal conferences, and to call attention to the systematic denial of due process in the Islamic Republic—including in death penalty cases where lives are at stake.
Already four young men have been hanged in brief, closed trials where independent counsel was denied, 20 are on death row, and at least 42 are facing charges that can carry the death penalty, according to research by CHRI.
Independent Lawyers Blocked from Defending Detainees, Persecuted for Advocating their Cases
“There are several groups of lawyers in Iran,” explained a lawyer in Iran who spoke to CHRI on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “First, there are independent human rights lawyers who will take cases regarding prisoners whose rights are being denied; these lawyers will speak to the media to generate public support for their clients and will refuse to cooperate with the security agencies.”
“The second kind are public defenders who represent people who cannot afford legal counsel. Some of them do their job responsibly, but others do not,” added the lawyer. “There’s a third group of so-called ‘telephone lawyers’ who have the approval of the judiciary and then there are some lawyers who closely cooperate with security officials.”
In other words, without independent counsel, itself an obligatory due process right, a fair trial is rendered impossible; public defenders either lack the experience in the defense of human rights (especially in cases of this magnitude), or are themselves in cahoots with Iran’s security agencies, and the state-appointed attorneys in Iran designated for so-called “national security” cases uniformly do the bidding of the security agencies.
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Iran Protests: At Least 44 Defense Attorneys Arrested Since September
