Sentence of human rights lawyer Amir Salar Davoudi: Total of 30 years in prison; 15 years enforceable

The wife of Amir Salar Davoudi, a lawyer who has been in detention since November 19, 2018, announced on Saturday, June 11, that the lawyer has been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison on multiple charges. According to the lawyer's wife, she will not appeal this unjust verdict.

Tanaz Kolahchian, who is herself a lawyer, announced on her Twitter account on June 1 that her husband had been charged by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Salavati, with a total sentence of 30 years in prison, of which 15 are enforceable under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code. According to Ms. Kolahchian, the maximum sentence he could be sentenced to is “ 15 years in prison for ‘ forming a Telegram channel group . ’”

Tanaz Kolahchian wrote on her Twitter: "The verdict #Amir Salar Davoudi was sentenced. According to the verdict of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, he was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison for multiple charges, and according to Article 134, a more severe punishment, namely “sentencing to 15 years in prison for forming a group (Telegram channel),” is applicable. Mr. Davoudi has decided not to appeal this verdict.

Previously, Vahid Meshkani Farahani, Amirsalar Davoudi's lawyer, had said in an interview with the Campaign on 17 Farrodin 2019 that he is accused of four charges: " cooperating with hostile governments through interviews, " " propaganda against the regime, " " insulting officials, " and " forming a group to overthrow the regime. " According to Davoudi's lawyer, the evidence for all of these charges was extracted from his writings on a Telegram channel called " Without Retouching. "

Now, according to the lawyer's wife, Mr. Davoudi has been sentenced to 15 years in prison just for the charge of "forming a Telegram channel group."

Before his arrest, Amirsalar Davoudi ran a Telegram channel called " Without Retouching, " where he wrote articles on the legal profession and his political and social views. His wife, Tanaz Kolahchian, was also summoned to the second interrogation branch of Evin Prison because of this Telegram channel.

The lawyer's wife announced in a tweet on June 27 that her husband was still in solitary confinement. This is despite the fact that he was arrested in November 2018 and, given the trial and sentencing, his interrogation naturally ended months ago and he should be in a public ward. Ms. Kolahchian wrote on her Twitter: "170 days of detention. It's strange that you are still in solitary confinement. This could have been understood from the phone call last night, which was a private number. But with the announcement of the end of the investigation, the reason why you are still in solitary confinement is incomprehensible. #Amirsalar_Davoudi #"There is no place for a lawyer in prison."

Arbitrary arrests of lawyers and issuance of heavy sentences have become a judicial practice in the past year. Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was also sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison on seven charges by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, which, of course, applies Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, which means that her maximum sentence, 12 years in prison, for the charge of “encouraging corruption and prostitution.” Ms. Sotoudeh did not object to her sentence, citing the unfairness of the Revolutionary Court process.

Branches 28 and 15 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Mohammad Moghiseh and Abolghasem Salavati, have issued heavy sentences against lawyers, journalists, civil and political activists since 2009.

Amirsalar Davoudi was arrested at his workplace on November 19, 2018, and his temporary detention has been extended several times. Mr. Davoudi has been the lawyer for many political and ideological defendants, including the Kurdish prisoner Zeinab Jalalian, who was sentenced to life in prison. He tried for years to have Ms. Jalalian granted medical leave for her eyes, but to no avail. In addition to representing political and ideological defendants and writing personal critical analysis and writings, these lawyers managed the Telegram channel "Without Retouching," which reflected the issues of the lawyers' union and their opinions.

Source: Human Rights Campaign