Supreme Court Accepts Retrial of Imprisoned Lawyer Mohammad Reza Faghihi

Branch 44 of the Supreme Court has granted the judicial review and retrial request for Mohammad Reza Faghihi, an attorney currently imprisoned in Evin Prison.

Announcing the news, Leila Shafaei, Faghihi’s defense counsel, wrote that the judgment granting her client’s retrial, issued based on Clause “Ch” of Article 474 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and citing the non-criminal nature of the attributed act, has been formally communicated to her and fellow lawyer Saleh Noghrehkar. Mohammad Reza Faghihi has been held in Evin Prison since January 21, 2025, to serve a five-year sentence.

The defense attorney had previously been sentenced to five years in prison by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, on charges of “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security.” The court had also imposed supplementary penalties, including a two-year travel ban, a two-year ban on practicing law, and a two-year ban on membership in political parties and groups. This verdict was upheld in full by the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeals in October/November 2024.

The primary trial hearing in Faghihi’s case took place on September 11, 2024, at Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He had previously been summoned to the same branch in October 2023 to answer charges including “assembly and collusion” and “disrupting public order.”

Furthermore, in July/August of last year, Faghihi announced that, according to a summons he had received, he was required to appear before Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to defend himself against charges including “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security.”

Mohammad Reza Faghihi was arrested on October 12, 2022, during a gathering of defense attorneys in front of the Central Bar Association at Tehran’s Argentine Square. The rally was held to protest what participants described as the “violation of protesters’ rights and Article 27 of the Constitution.” He was detained by security forces alongside two other lawyers and was ultimately released on bail on October 25 of the same year.