Lastest news: On October 13, the scheduled trial was postponed for Iranian defense lawyers Mostafa Nili and Arash Keykhosravi and civil rights activist Mehdi Mahmoudian (all three still detained after 23 days in solitary confinement while denied access to legal counsel and phone calls), along with Mohammad Reza Faghihi (lawyer), and Maryam Afrafaraz (civil activist), who are free on bail.

Their legal teams have been denied access to their case files, because “the state fears these courageous individuals,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran. “It wants to strip them of their power because they are the last lifeline of those targeted by the state for peaceful dissent.”

In response to their upcoming trial, Nili, Keykhosravi and Mahmoudian wrote a joint letter to the Central Supervisory Board on Proper Enforcement of the Law and Respect for Legitimate Freedoms and Protection of Citizens’ Rights detailing their unlawful arrest and detention and illegal raids on their homes.

"They continued to hold us under extraordinary and illegal conditions to put more pressure on us and to intimidate and terrorize the public,” the letter denounced.

“During solitary confinement inside the judiciary’s security ward we were subjected to psychological pressure only because on August 14, 2021, we refused to sign a pledge not to file a lawsuit against the supreme leader and other judicial and government officials."