Abdolfattah Soltani is a lawyer and member of Iran’s Defenders of Human Rights Center. In an ‎interview with Rooz, Soltani announces that a Tehran court has barred him from representing ‎detained activist Sohrab Razzaghi.‎

Soltani said, "Mr. Razzaghi’s family went to court but were not allowed to designate an attorney. ‎We have not yet signed an agreement with him." ‎

Soltani adds, "It is possible to defend someone only after an attorney-client agreement has been ‎signed. Unfortunately, many political detainees are not granted access to an attorney during the ‎discovery process. When an attorney wants to speak with the defendant, they either do not allow ‎it or, at most, say 'leave an attorney-client agreement on the table and leave.' Basically, then, ‎political detainees do not have access to an attorney during the discovery process." ‎

Soltani complains that this is against the law: "According to civil procedure laws the prosecutor ‎must explain two things to the defendant: the subject of the charge, and the reason for the charge. ‎The attorney must also be informed of the subject of and reasons for the charge. In reality, ‎however, this is not observed in cases where the defendant is held for political reasons. Officials ‎even prevent lawyers from getting involved and learning about interrogations. The result is a ‎complete lack of respect for law. As far as I know, Mr. Razzaghi was arrested on Wednesday, so ‎he should have been arraigned by Thursday. But we don't know what has happened. In fact ‎when courts dos not allow an attorney to meet with his clients and receive information about the ‎charges against the defendant they are in violation of the most basic procedural laws. This ‎means that no part of the process will be just." ‎

Soltani continued, "I can say with confidence that more than 95 percent of political detainees ‎have not committed any crime. What they have done is either writing an article, or giving a ‎speech, or participating in a legal gathering, or criticizing an official, none of which is an ‎instance of a crime. They arrest someone without having any reason for his guilt, and then they ‎are forced to torture the defendant into confessing some crime that he never committed in the ‎first place. Part of this process is to keep him away from his family and attorney. In this way, ‎they create a case for the defendant which they can use in later stages to issue a conviction that ‎they had in mind in the first place." ‎

Soltani explained that the same scenario will possibly be implemented in Razzaghi's case: "It is ‎very probable that Mr. Razzaghi's case will also follow the same trend, because most of the cases ‎we have dealt with have had the same process. The latest instance was the case of three Amir ‎Kabir University students, Ghassaban, Tavakkoli, and Mansouri, who have been in prison since ‎last spring. They have forced these students into confessing crimes that they did not commit. ‎They have refuted their admissions in court but, unfortunately, have been sentenced to two, two-‎and-a-half, and three year prison terms. Right now, their case is in the appeals court and we ‎hope that the court overturns their unjust convictions. Most political prisoners are in a similar ‎situation." ‎

Sohrab Razzaghi is the founder and director of the Volunteer Activists (Koneshgaran’e ‎Davtalab) society, a civil society group involved in strengthening social networks in Iran. He ‎was arrested last Wednesday in Tehran. ‎