Dozens of Lawyers in Kurdish City Summoned to Court

As many as 54 lawyers in the north-western Kurdish city of Bukan have been summoned to court after expressing their support for Mahsa Amini's family, human rights activists say.

Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran's Kurdish regions, said that the Bukan General and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office requested the lawyers to appear before the court between July 11 and July 16.

The notification issued by the prosecutors alleged that the 54 lawyers had published "photos, images and other materials that violated public decency."

Hengaw quoted sources as saying that prosecutors in Bukan have persistently exerted pressure on the lawyers since they issued a joint statement expressing full support for Amini’s grieving family and condemning the "unlawful conduct of institutions and organizations" toward her family members.

Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in September 2022 while she was in police custody in Tehran for allegedly flouting mandatory headscarf rules. 

Her death sparked months of nationwide protests that were met with brutal force by the authorities. More than 520 people have been killed in the clampdown and over 19,000 have been unlawfully detained, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

Dozens of lawyers have been summoned, arrested and prosecuted following the eruption of the women-led protest movement.