New Wave of Convictions Against Human Rights Lawyers in Shiraz; Three Lawyers Sentenced to Prison

Continuing the pattern of cases filed against lawyers in Iran’s judicial system, the first branch of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court has sentenced three well-known women’s and children’s rights lawyers named “Nazanin Salari,” “Mahmoud Taravat-Roui,” and “Masoud Ahmadian” to three years imprisonment each, along with supplementary punishments including travel bans and passport revocation. The ruling was issued simultaneously with the confirmation of their acquittal on one of the more serious charges, sparking reactions from human rights organizations.

According to published human rights reports, the three lawyers were convicted by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court on charges of “assembly and conspiracy against national security” and “propaganda activities against the system,” while according to the issued ruling, the charge of “cooperation with a hostile government” has been dropped against them. Monitoring bodies state that this case began in 2020 and has continued over the following years with multiple judicial ups and downs, including re-referral to the prosecutor’s office and holding of various hearings.

Alongside the prison sentence, the court has also issued supplementary punishments including a two-year travel ban and passport revocation for all three defendants; an issue that has increasingly been repeated in similar cases involving human rights lawyers in Iran in recent years.

These three lawyers, who have been active in the field of women’s and children’s rights as well as cases related to civil liberties, in addition to this case, are also facing other charges in branch 112 of Shiraz’s Criminal Court Two, including charges concerning “incitement to corruption” and “presence in public places without observing mandatory hijab,” proceedings on which continue.