Iranian rights lawyer Found Dead, Sparking allegations of Foulโ Play
Mashhad, Iran – Prominent Iranian โhuman rightsโค lawyer, Mohammad Hossein Alikordi, โhas diedโ unexpectedly, prompting widespread concern and accusations of state involvement from fellow activists and family members.Authorities have stated they are investigating the circumstances surrounding โhis death, but โdetails remain scarce.
Alikordi, originally from Sabzevar and residing in Mashhad, was found dead with signs of physical trauma, โaccording to reports.Human rights activist Javad Tavaf โฃdescribed observingโข blood emanating โfromโ the โคlawyer’s mouth and nose, and indicatedโค Alikordi had โsuffered a severe head injury. Initial reports โsuggested aโฃ possible heart attack, but manny are โคdisputing this claim. “We findโฃ his death highly suspicious and do notโ believeโข he died of a heart attack,” stated Marziyeh, the sister of Abolfazl Adinezadeh, a teenager killed during the 2022 protestsโค whom Alikordi represented. โข
Alikordi had built a career defending politically sensitive cases, including representing political detainee Fatemeh Sepehri, individuals arrested โฃduring the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests,โ and families of those killed during theโ same demonstrations, such as the Adinezadeh family.
Inโ the days leading up to his death,Alikordi reportedly expressed concerns to colleagues about escalating pressure from the authorities. Someโ sources claim he warned clients of new โ”case building” against him and other activists, allegingโ the intelligence ministry “intended physical elimination.” โฃLawyerโ Babak Paknia shared an image of a recent conversation โwith Alikordi, in which the lawyer stated aโ new case had been โfiled โagainst him and that authorities “did not leave him alone until the very last moment.”
According to that exchange,Alikordi had recently been sentencedโข by the โฃRevolutionaryโค Court to one year in prison,a two-year ban from practicing law,and two years of internal exileโ for participating in theโ “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign,facing โcharges of “propaganda against the state.” he had previously been arrested and, in โearly โ2024, received further sentencing including additional prison time, exile, travel bans, and โa prohibition on legal practice.
The death has prompted an outpouring of grief and anger within Iran’s activist community. Former politicalโค prisoner Hossein Ronaghi โstated Alikordi had resisted “countless pressures and threats,” and suggestedโ that numerous deaths previously labeled “natural” were, actually, theโ result of sustained coercion. “Recentโ suspicious deaths โฃtestify to the disorder โgoverning our country,” he wrote.
Numerous social media users have directly blamed โฃthe Islamicโค Republic โคfor Alikordi’s death, labeling itโ a “state killing.”
While an official examination is underway,โ the accounts circulating among lawyers and activists are intensifying scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding his โdeath and raising renewedโค concerns about the dangers faced โขby attorneys defending political cases in Iran.