Iran arrests lawyer of detained journalists

TEHRAN: Iran has arrested the lawyer of two female journalists detained after reporting the death of a woman in custody, which sparked three months of protests, a newspaper said on Saturday.

The Islamic republic has been rocked by protests since Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16 after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country´s dress code for women.

“Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, the lawyer for several activists and journalists, has been detained,” the Ham Mihan newspaper said.

The arrest brings to 25 the number of lawyers detained in connection with the protests, the reformist daily said.

Kamfirouzi´s lawyer Mohammad Ali Bagherpour was cited as saying his client had not received a summons, was unaware of the charges he faced and that he had been detained without any legal formalities.

Ham Mihan quoted Kamfirouzi´s brother as saying that the lawyer had been arrested on Wednesday. He said he held the judiciary was “responsible for protecting my brother´s life and health”.

Among Kamfirouzi´s clients were Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, the two female journalists arrested after covering Amini´s death and its aftermath.

Hamedi, who works at the reformist newspaper Shargh, was detained on September 20 after visiting the hospital where Amini had spent three days in a coma before her death.

Mohammadi, a journalist at Ham Mihan, was taken into custody on September 29 after she travelled to Amini´s hometown of Saqez in Kurdistan province to report on her funeral.