International Day for Lawyers in Danger / OIAD press release

24 January 2024: The Observatory takes action for the 14th International Day for Lawyers in Danger, focusing on Iran

Every year on 24 January, the International Day of Lawyers in Danger mobilises the international community to draw the attention of civil society to the practice of the legal profession in a given country. The 2024 edition of the International Day for Lawyers in Danger is dedicated to the legal profession in Iran, where the Iranian regime violates the right of lawyers to carry out all their professional duties without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or undue interference.

Since the announcement of Jina Mahsa Amini’s death, the situation has deteriorated considerably in Iran, where prisoners charged in connection with the protests have been assigned lawyers associated with the authorities. Between September 2022 and May 2023, at least 66 defence lawyers were arrested by Iranian security forces to prevent them from seeking justice for activists and demonstrators who had been arbitrarily arrested.

Some human rights lawyers have been sentenced to long prison terms or fled the country to escape prosecution. Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, for example, has been sentenced by the Iranian authorities to 38 years in prison (12 of which are mandatory) and 148 lashes, which she is serving from her home for medical reasons.

The Observatory urges the Iranian authorities to cease all harassment of lawyers and to ensure their protection.

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Further information:

The Observatory invites you to view its campaign aiming to draw the attention of civil society and public authorities to the threats faced by Iranian lawyers. A brochure, a mobilisation kit and a poster are available in six languages and ready to be distributed to maximise the impact of this initiative.

Don’t miss the videos of Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi and lawyer Hirbod Dehgani-Azar and information on events organised by the members of the OIAD.

Contacts : 

Agueda Teja and Amanda Gichia : contact@protect-lawyers.org

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Who we are

The OIAD is an initiative of the Conseil National des Barreaux (France), the Barreau de Paris (France), the Consejo General de la Abogacía Española (Spain) and the Consiglio Nazionale Forense (Italy), supported by nearly 50 Bars. Launched in 2016, the OIAD aims to defend lawyers threatened in the exercise of their profession and to denounce situations that infringe the rights of the defence.