Two lawyers sentenced to prison by Alborz Court of Appeal; "Sword of Damocles" hanging over lawyers' heads

Payam Darfashan and Farrokh Forouzan, lawyers living in Tehran, were sentenced to a total of two years in prison by the Alborz Provincial Court of Appeal.

These two lawyers were previously sentenced to a total of 4 years in prison by the first instance court, and this term was reduced to two years by the Alborz Provincial Court of Appeal.

Mohammad Moghimi, a lawyer at a court, announced on Tuesday, June 26, by publishing a picture of the verdict issued on his Telegram channel that in the case of Payam Darfashan and Farrokh Forouzan, two lawyers, the sentence of 2 years in prison and 2 years of disqualification from practicing law, on charges of "insulting the leadership", which had previously been issued to each of these two lawyers by the court of first instance, was reduced to 1 year in prison by Branch 6 of the Alborz Provincial Court of Appeal, with the advice of Rahman Shaabani and Rasoul Karampour, and as an additional punishment, 2 years of disqualification from practicing law was confirmed.

It should be noted that, according to the above ruling, the sentence has been suspended for 2 years and its execution will be necessary in the event of a repeat offense.

Saeed Dehghan, a lawyer who had announced on Twitter on Saturday, May 10, the conviction of Payam Darfashan in the first instance court, also announced on Monday, June 25, the verdict of the appeals court, stating, "This means our protest was valid, but the sword of Damocles was also necessary! This means that people's privacy is respected, but violating it is also necessary!"

According to available information, Payam Darfashan and Farrokh Forouzan were arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in front of the prisoner's house on September 29, 2018, when they were planning to visit the family of Mr. Keykhosravi, a lawyer who was in detention at the time. They were later released on bail.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic have arrested or sentenced a number of lawyers to prison over the past years. Soheila Hijab, a lawyer and civil activist who had previously been sentenced to 18 years in prison by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards of Tehran on Saturday, June 23, after she went to the Tehran Court of Appeals and received confirmation of her 18-year prison sentence, and was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin.