Legal and human rights bodies have called for the immediate release of 76-year-old Iranian lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh, who has been summoned for re-imprisonment after signing a letter of protest about a spate of executions in the country. Seifzadeh, co-founder of the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran, has been imprisoned 13 times over the past three decades.
A joint letter from the Law Society of England and Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and the Center for Human Rights in Iran calls for Seifzadeh’s immediate release and an end to the persecution of human rights defenders in Iran.
‘Mr. Seifzadeh has faced relentless harassment, including arbitrary arrest, detention, and prosecution, simply for fulfilling his professional obligations and defending human rights’, the letter states. It demands that the Iranian authorities:
- Drop all charges against Seifzadeh and ensure he is not subjected to further intimidation or harassment, including arbitrary arrest, detention and prosecution;
- Ensure that all individuals charged with offenses are guaranteed fair trial rights pursuant to Iran’s international human rights obligations, and guarantee everyone’s right to effective access to justice;
- Release all lawyers in Iran who have been imprisoned due to their defence of human rights and their defence of detainees and political prisoners;
- Ensure that all lawyers in Iran can carry out their professional duties and exercise their right to freedom of expression and belief without intimidation, hindrance or improper interference.
Seifzadeh was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment after co-signing a letter addressed to the secretary general of the United Nations calling for an international response to executions in Iran and the repression of demonstrations by the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement. The Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that at least 345 people have been executed so far this year, among them 15 women.
