Security forces raid the homes of detained lawyers, search and confiscate personal belongings, and prepare cases

Ten days after the mass arrest of a group of lawyers and civil activists and the continued imprisonment of three lawyers and two civil activists, the security pressures on the families of some of these civil activists have taken on new dimensions; on Wednesday, September 25, news was released that security forces had raided the homes of two of the arrested lawyers. According to Saeed Khalili, a lawyer, security agents raided the home of Mohammad Reza Faghihi, one of the arrested lawyers, searched the house, and confiscated electrical and communication equipment.

Saeed Dehghan, a human rights lawyer, also tweeted that eleven security agents had raided the home of Arash Kaykhosravi's father (another of the detained lawyers) and even took away the CCTV cameras, leaving no trace of the raid.

The intensification of illegal actions and the continued detention of lawyers and civil activists in prison have increased concerns about the legal treatment of these individuals. The illegal actions of security authorities in raiding the homes of some of these activists, searching their homes, and seizing their personal belongings are clear signs of the efforts of judicial and security authorities to build cases against imprisoned lawyers and civil activists. Individuals who were arrested solely because they intended to file a complaint against the authorities responsible for the fight against COVID-19 for “negligence in the performance of their duties that led to the deaths of thousands of Iranians,” using their right to appeal under Article 34 of the Constitution.

Clear examples of illegal actions in the cases of lawyers and civil activists 

The continued imposition of security pressures on civil activists has further exposed the illegality of the treatment of these lawyers and civil activists in prison; Arash Keykhosravi and Mohammad Reza Faghihi, along with Mostafa Nili, Mehdi Mahmoudian, and Maryam Afrafraz, are still in detention. The arrest of these activists simply for wanting to exercise their right to a fair trial and file a complaint against the authorities responsible for the fight against COVID-19 is the first clear example of the illegality of the treatment of these activists.

After the security officers raided the private homes of two of the arrested lawyers, Arash Kaykhosravi and Mohammad Reza Faghihi, the second example of illegal security and judicial action in this case has come to light. The sudden attack by security officers on the residences of these individuals is a clear example of the illegal behavior of security and judicial authorities.

Saeed Dehghan wrote in his tweet that after raiding Arash Kaykhosravi's house, the officers "also took the CCTV camera so that there would be no evidence of the raid."

The issue of recording CCTV cameras is the third clear example of illegal and unethical behavior in dealing with lawyers and civil society activists. The attempt to record CCTV cameras during the raid on Arash Keykhosravi’s house is, in fact, an illegal “clearing” of the fact that security and judicial authorities have never been held accountable for such behavior. However, it is still unclear from which institution exactly these agents raided their residence.

The series of behaviors of security and judicial officials, which are clear examples of illegal actions, must be examined in these three indicators: illegal arrests without providing any reason, illegal raids on private homes and house searches, and the confiscation of the personal belongings of the arrested lawyers, and finally the destruction of the documents of the officers' raids (CCTV cameras at Arash Keykhosravi's residence).

It is obvious that, in addition to these cases and obvious illegal behavior, the raids by security agents on the residences of detained lawyers are actually a double pressure on the families of these individuals, which also adds to their concerns.

Raid on the residences of detained lawyers and preparations for authorities to file cases against them

The story of the security officers raiding the residences of two detained lawyers, Arash Kaykhosravi and Mohammad Reza Faghihi, searching their homes and confiscating their personal belongings has increased concerns about the initiation of preparations for a security case against these lawyers. In describing the raid on Arash Kaykhosravi's residence, Saeed Dehghan writes about the illegal behavior of the officers, who, after raiding the house, locked Arash Kaykhosravi's room for a while and did not allow his family to enter the room. According to Saeed Dehghan, this is actually a prelude to "obtaining evidence" through "planting evidence." In other words, judicial authorities and security officers are openly planting evidence against the detainee by using violence against the detainee's family and behaving outside all norms (preventing family members from entering the room).

The raid on the residences of lawyers and civil activists, and especially the illegal behavior of the officers in recording the CCTV cameras and preventing the family from entering Arash Keykhosravi's room, are clear signs of the actions of the security and judicial authorities to advance the process of building a case against them.

A tactic that is always used by security and judicial authorities in dealing with lawyers and civil and human rights activists.

The security pressures on the detained lawyers and activists come despite claims that some people had been releasing them in the past few days, according to an informed source. At present, it seems that there are serious obstacles to pursuing the cases of these lawyers and civil activists.

Saeed Khalili, the attorney who published the news of the security forces' raid on Mohammad Reza Faghihi's residence, stated that when he went to the Evin Prosecutor's Office to register his attorney, "they said at the front door that they would neither accept a lawyer nor release him on bail."

Security and judicial pressures on lawyers and civil activists in response to some advocacy activities in Iran continue to be pursued in various ways and tactics by various security and judicial institutions and apparatuses, and the recent action is another aspect of the continuation and intensification of these attacks.

Source: Human Rights Campaign