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Protest-hit Iran arrests lawyer of jailed journalists

Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi was the lawyer of Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who were charged with conspiring against national security and propaganda against the state.

Reuters Archive

Thousands of people have been arrested in protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police.

Iran has arrested the lawyer of two female journalists jailed after covering the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini that sparked three months of protests.

"Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, the lawyer for several activists and journalists, has been detained," the Tehran-based Ham Mihan newspaper said on Saturday.

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 his arrest had occurred on Wednesday, as well as that the judiciary was "responsible for protecting my brother's life and health".

Concern over the fate of detainees

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 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 to report on her funeral.

The pair were charged on November 8 with propaganda against the state and conspiring against national security, capital crimes under Iranian law.

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has expressed concern about their fate and demanded their immediate release.

Iran has been rocked by protests since Amini died on September 16 after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's dress code for women.

Thousands of people have been arrested over the protests. Eleven have been sentenced to death, and two have already been executed.

Meanwhile, Iran this week released two teenagers who had been arrested on allegations of taking part in the demonstrations, reformist newspapers said on Saturday.

Amir Hossein Rahimi, 15, and Sonia Sharifi, 17, were both released on Thursday after almost two months in detention, the Etemad and Ham Mihan dailies reported.