Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers Amid Growing Repression

Security Groups Control Cases of Victims Seeking Justice; Lawyers Then Prosecuted for Filing Cases

January 13, 2025 — The Islamic Republic of Iran is waging a campaign of intimidation and prosecution against human rights lawyers, targeting those who defend protesters, dissidents, and other victims of state violence. The arrests and sentencing of five prominent lawyers in just the last month demonstrate the Iranian authorities’ intensifying efforts to silence independent legal voices and evade accountability for the state’s human rights crimes, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said today. 

“The Iranian government has long weaponized the legal system to punish the individuals who dare to defend justice,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of CHRI.

“By persecuting lawyers for doing their job, Iran is dismantling the last line of defense for human rights in Iran. Every lawyer imprisoned or disbarred represents many defendants whose rights have been trampled and now lack legal defense,” Ghaemi said.

Lawyers in Iran are being charged with vague crimes such as “propaganda against the state” and “publishing falsehoods,” stripped of their licenses, exiled to remote areas, and silenced through imprisonment simply for defending victims of state violence and challenging judicial misconduct. The attacks on these lawyers are part of a larger effort by Iranian authorities to crush the independence of the legal profession and the ability of lawyers to defend basic political, civil, and legal rights in Iran.

CHRI calls on the UN and governments worldwide to immediately:

• Publicly and forcefully condemn the Islamic Republic’s attacks on human rights lawyers;
• Demand that Iran immediately frees all lawyers imprisoned for defending legal rights in Iran and drop charges against all other lawyers prosecuted for defending basic rights;
• Demand that the Iranian authorities comply with its obligations under international law, including the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which guarantee the work and independence of legal professionals without intimidation and harassment.

An Insider’s Account of Judicial Manipulation

In a recent interview with CHRI, Payam Derafshan, a prominent human rights lawyer in Iran, exposed the depth of judicial and security collusion in the Islamic Republic, where security groups are illegally handed control of politically sensitive cases involving victims seeking justice for state abuses, and then the judiciary goes after the lawyers who file these cases and prosecutes them. 

“After the 2022 [Woman, Life, Freedom] protests, judicial and security authorities formed groups in all the provinces under different names. In Alborz province, the group was called the Alborz Intelligence Community, with representatives from all security organizations in the province, including intelligence officials from the Army, the IRGC [Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], the Judiciary and the Ministry of Intelligence. Its function is to prepare investigators to handle certain security cases. Yet according to Iran’s Code of Criminal Procedures, when a complaint is filed with the Armed Forces Judicial Organization, the case should be handled by military investigators, not security ones. But in Alborz province, these types of cases are immediately handed over to security investigators.”

Derafshan described how the authorities have weaponized these structures to target both protesters and their legal defenders. His persistence in prosecuting military officials responsible for blinding protesters has now made him a target of the authorities.

“In the case of one of my clients who suffered an eye injury [large numbers of protesters were intentionally shot in the eyes, often at close range, by security forces], the security investigator treated my client as if he was the suspect or criminal. As the case went forward with my persistence, the Alborz Intelligence Community began to build a case against me. According to their narrative, my actions have not been aimed at defending my clients but instead were motivated by politics.

“The deputy prosecutor of the Armed Forces Judicial Organization in Alborz province always interferes in cases involving the visually impaired [those who were shot in the eyes during the protests]. In fact, the issue is not just one individual; [this official] represents an extreme faction within the judicial system in Alborz province.”

According to Derafshan, these security groups systematically target lawyers who challenge state abuses. When lawyers file complaints, their cases are handed to investigators embedded within the security establishment, effectively dismantling any semblance of independence in the judiciary.

Human rights lawyers have long been persecuted in the Islamic Republic, but after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that erupted across Iran in 2022, the Iranian government intensified its repression of dissent and its campaign against independent lawyers. Amid the nationwide demonstrations, at least 66 lawyers were arrested for defending protesters, leading to the imprisonment of 11 lawyers and forcing others to flee the country to evade persecution, according to the Law Society of England and Wales. Alarmingly, the deaths of at least three female lawyers under suspicious circumstances after being released from detention underscore the dangerous environment faced by legal professionals in Iran who challenge state abuses. 

A Systematic Targeting of Lawyers

The case against Payam Derafshan, who was charged on December 28, 2024, with “publishing falsehoods” and “insulting officials” for his persistent efforts to hold military officers accountable for blinding protesters during the 2022 demonstrations, is only one of among multiple cases aimed at crushing the work of independent lawyers in Iran. In recent weeks, four other prominent human rights lawyers have been arrested or sentenced on bogus, politically motivated charges:

• Behnam Nezadi was sentenced on November 27, 2024, to one year in prison and banned from practicing law for two years by the Revolutionary Court in Arak, central Iran. His conviction stemmed from posts on his Instagram page where he highlighted judicial corruption, including information about judges violating the law. Authorities accused him of “weakening the judiciary” and “propaganda against the state.”
• Mehdi Karimi Farsi was ordered to report to Tehran’s Evin Prison on December 31, 2024, to serve a one-year sentence for marching to the Iranian Parliament to demand the independence of the legal profession. Tried alongside two colleagues, Sadegh Mostafavi Kashani and Abuzar Nasrollahi, in February 2024, there has been no update on their cases.
• Khosrow Alikordi, who had been serving a supervised sentence outside prison, was suddenly arrested on December 24, 2024, in Mashhad with only 45 days left on his sentence. Alikordi, known for representing dissidents and victims of state violence, faces additional punishments, including two years of exile, a two-year ban on practicing law, and restrictions on travel and online activities.
• Farid Nikpay was sentenced on December 22, 2024, to three months in prison and a fine for criticizing the judiciary’s Center for Legal Advisors, which he accused of exploiting lawyers and undermining the Iranian Bar Association.

“The international community must speak out against the Islamic Republic’s unlawful punishment of those fighting for justice and accountability. Independent lawyers who defend the rights of Iran’s citizens are the backbone of a fair and just society, and their persecution is a grave indication of the deepening repression in Iran,” Ghaemi said.