Immediate release of Iranian lawyers Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Mohammad Seifzadeh

Dear Ambassador,

We would like to take the opportunity to call your attention to the case of the three Iranian lawyers Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Mohammad Seifzadeh.

Mr Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer. He is a co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), which the Iranian regime has sought to suppress. In the aftermath of Iran's disputed June 2009 elections, Dadkhah represented several jailed political and human rights activists. In July 2011, he was sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to nine years in prison for attempting to overthrow the ruling system, among other charges. His sentence was upheld in April 2012, and on 29 September, he was called to prison to begin his sentence.

Mr Mohammad Seifzadeh is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge, human rights activist and a cofounder of Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran. In October 2010, Mohammad Seifzadeh was sentenced to nine years in prison and a ten-year ban on practicing law on charges of “acting against national security through establishing the Defenders of Human Rights Center. He was arrested in April 2011 in the city of Orumiyeh on charges of exiting the country illegally, resulting in a second case against him. An appeals court reduced the sentence from his first case to two years in prison, which he served until March 25, 2013. However, while in prison, Seifzadeh was charged with “collusion and assembly against national security” for writing critical letters and signing several group statements—a third case. Four court sessions were held to review these charges, but each time Seifzadeh refused to appear in court to present his defense, because he did not consider the Revolutionary Court qualified to judge the case. In March 2013, the court announced an additional six-year sentence for the charges in the third case, which was finalized in this recent court session.

We call for a strong diplomatic pressure for their immediate release. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Mohammad Seifzadeh are Iranian citizens innocent.

In awaiting your reply, be assured of my most respectful sentiments.