The lawyer of an Azerbaijani activist was arrested by the judiciary in Ardabil.
Seyyed Mohammad Reza Faghihi, a lawyer living in Tehran and one of the lawyers defending Azerbaijani activist Abbas Lasani (Turkish), was arrested.
An informed source told VOA that the lawyer was arrested on Sunday, October 19, at the Ardabil Prosecutor's Office, following a summons issued earlier by Judge Noonhal, the deputy prosecutor of Ardabil. He was taken to an unknown location upon his arrival.
The informed person told VOA that there is still no precise information about the reason for Mr. Faghihi's arrest and the charges against him, but the Tehran-based lawyer had previously been repeatedly threatened by Ardabil judicial authorities that severe consequences would await him if he did not withdraw from representing Abbas Lisani in the case.
According to information received by Voice of America, Ardabil judicial authorities have so far refused to accept bail for the lawyer's release, and it has been stated that no decision has been made regarding his release at this time.
Seyyed Mohammad Reza Faghihi, a lawyer and board member of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights, has voluntarily represented the cases of dozens of prisoners, including political and conscientious prisoners, in Iran over the past years. In this regard, he has been interrogated many times and asked to withdraw from representing the cases of political and conscientious prisoners.
This is not the first time that a lawyer has been arrested for accepting representation for political and conscientious prisoners; previously, Amir Salar Davoudi, a regular lawyer at a court who has represented a number of political and conscientious prisoners, including Soheil Arabi, in recent years, was arrested on November 19 last year when judicial officers visited his office and in early August, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Judge Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court.
Mohammad Najafi, a lawyer and human rights activist imprisoned in Arak Prison, was also arrested in 2017 after reporting on Vahid Heydari, one of the protesters in January of that year who had died in a detention center in Arak.
This lawyer was released on April 28 of this year, while serving his three-year sentence in Arak Prison on charges of propaganda activities in favor of groups and organizations opposed to the regime and insulting the leadership, with an "amnesty." However, just four days after his release, he was transferred to Arak Central Prison to serve his ten-year prison sentence in connection with the events of January 2017 and on charges of "collaborating with hostile states."
Source: Voice of America
