Abbas Pahlvani Summoned to Sabzevar Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office

Abbas Pahlvani, a faculty member at Hakim Sabzevar University, has been summoned to the Sabzevar Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office.

Abbas Pahlvani, a native of Sabzevar and professor and faculty member at Hakim Sabzevar University, was summoned by the first branch of the interrogation department of the Sabzevar Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office on charges of membership in groups opposed to the system and insulting the leadership.

The issuance of the summons to him comes at a time when he is not only a civil activist and member of the faculty of the environmental group at Hakim Sabzevar University, but also serves as a professor at the said university, yet has been subject to legal prosecution.

According to the text of the summons issued to him, Abbas Pahlvani must appear at the prosecutor’s office within 5 days from the date of service and defend himself against the charges brought against him, including “membership in groups opposed to the system” and “insulting the leadership.”

Individuals like Abbas Pahlvani who have repeatedly been summoned to the prosecutor’s office on similar charges have been deprived of the right to fair trial and access to legal counsel, while deprivation of legal representation during interrogation, investigation and trial proceedings, as well as denial of access to other trial necessities, constitute violations of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Furthermore, Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that individuals should be entitled to the right of fair trial by an impartial judge, interrogator and prosecutor, yet unfortunately most of these individuals who are interrogated on similar and baseless charges are deprived of all these rights.