Iranian Court Sentences Lawyers, Activists Trying to Sue Officials to Prison

For trying to sue Iranian leaders for their grossly negligent response to the COVID-19 pandemic, three lawyers and two civil rights activists have been sentenced to prison.

“These individuals are being punished in order to send a message to the people of Iran: Seeking an accountable government in the Islamic Republic will land you in jail,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

“This ruling reflects Iran’s judicial system, which works in lock step with the state security apparatus to crush dissent,” he added. “Iranians seeking justice are treated as enemies of the nation, while those in power who are destroying it enjoy immunity.”

revolutionary court in Tehran sentenced Mostafa Nili (lawyer) and Mehdi Mahmoudian (civil rights activist) to four years in prison each, Arash Keykhosravi (lawyer) to two years in prison, Mohammad Reza Faghihi (lawyer) to six months in prison, and Maryam Afrafaraz (civil rights activist) to 95 days in prison.

Their attorney Babak Paknia, who announced the verdicts on June 21, 2022, said they would be appealed.

The prison sentences come at a time when the government is increasingly trying to crush peaceful rights advocacy and attempts to hold officials accountable for their actions.

State forces have been violently repressing protests occurring around the country for months, while scores of activists including laborers and teachers have been detained.

Health Defenders Denied Justice, Punished as Enemies of the State

Referred to on Persian social media as the “health defenders,” the lawyers and activists had attempted to file a lawsuit against senior Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for banning the import of COVID-19 vaccines made by U.S. and British pharmaceutical companies for political reasons, forbidding factual numbers about the extent of deaths and infections from being publicized, and mismanaging response efforts.

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Iranian Court Sentences Lawyers, Activists Trying to Sue Officials to Prison