Reports from Iran say at least 44 lawyers have been arrested since mass anti-government protests erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who had been arrested by Iranian authorities for wearing her headscarf improperly.
The reports say that while about 20 of the lawyers have been released from custody, two have been sentenced – one to six months in prison and the other to a year. Both have been banned from leaving the country.
In November, a group of lawyers issued a statement saying that many people were no longer interested in the Islamic Republic and encouraged people to speak up about their discontent.
Several lawyers have announced that they would represent detained demonstrators for free, but Iran will not allow independent lawyers to defend most of the demonstrators even though some protesters are facing death sentences. At least two protesters have already been executed.
Legal and human rights experts say the demonstrators’ trials are not fair as confessions may have been coerced by various pressures, including torture.
