Iranian authorities have arrested the lawyer who helped organise and publicise the prison marriage between a young man who was then executed over the 2026 protests and his fiancee who was also in jail, rights groups said Monday.
Alireza Sepahi, 25, and his partner Mahshad Kashani, 22, were married in a ceremony conducted over the telephone by their lawyer, and attended by their fathers, on the eve of Sepahi’s execution on October 5.
Both had been arrested and held in separate prisons in the central city of Isfahan in a case relating to their participation in the January nationwide protests that shook the Islamic republic.
Lawyer Amirsalar Davoudi was arrested by plainclothes forces Sunday while attending a hearing at the Isfahan Revolutionary Court to defend Kashani who is serving a five-year prison term, the Dadban Iranian legal affairs monitor said.
“Criminal prosecutions against lawyers — particularly those handling political, security, and human rights cases — have in recent years become an ongoing pattern,” it said.
The arrest was also confirmed by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which said Davoudi’s current whereabouts were unclear.
A prominent lawyer who has been arrested on several occasions in the past, Davoudi had taken on several cases of defendants arrested over the 2026 protests.
They also include the twin sisters sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, 21, who have respectively been sentenced to death and 36 years in prison over events in Isfahan during the protests.
Their cousin Masoud Nourmohammadi, who lives in the US, said Davoudi had taken on several cases of protesters without accepting a fee. “During this time, I saw nothing from Amirsalar but honour and love for Iran,” he said.
Rights groups say Iran has in recent months executed 34 people in connection with the January protests in a bid to intimidate society and prevent further demonstrations.
Source: AFP