Iran arrests outspoken lawyer who criticized crackdown following Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – An outspoken Iranian lawyer who publicly criticized the government’s handling of the 2022 protests has been arrested, state media reported Sunday.

The unrest followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by police for allegedly not wearing her mandatory hijab properly. Her death sparked massive protests that quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s four-decade-old Islamic theocracy.

The Mizan judicial news agency reported on Sunday that Mohsen Borhani had previously been convicted, but did not provide further details about his case or the prison sentence imposed.

Borhani, also a university professor, became popular on social media for her critical views of the Iranian government during the 2022 demonstrations that rocked the Islamic Republic and sparked a crackdown by security forces that left more than 500 people killed and over 22,000 arrested. UN investigators said Iran was responsible for the physical violence that led to their deaths.

The arrest came one day after reform-minded President Masoud Pezeshkian was elected as the new president.

Pezeshkian promised to ease enforcement of the headscarf law and reach out to the West after the Islamic Republic suffered years of pressure from sanctions and protests.