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VIDEO

The International Day of the Endangered Lawyer 2024: Iranian Lawyers -Risking Their Licenses, Their Liberty, and Even Their Very Lives

David A Schwartz, Delissa A Ridgway, Margaret Satterthwaite, and Stuart Russell

A presentation of the Middle East Committee, International Human Rights Committee, Women’s Interest Network, and the International Committee of the Seasoned Lawyers Division.

On January 24 of every year, the international community marks the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, highlighting one country where lawyers are particularly at risk. This year, the focus country is the Islamic Republic of Iran ("IR"), where the ongoing, nationwide, women- and youth-led uprising sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini has riveted the international community around the globe.

Even before September 2022, Iranian lawyers handling high-profile, politically-sensitive cases were at risk. Now, in the wake of the uprising, the IR is arresting and imprisoning lawyers merely for advising/counseling and representing protesters. Iranian lawyers are languishing behind bars just for daring to do exactly “what lawyers are supposed to do” – represent their clients.

Join us on January 24 in solidarity with Iranian lawyers and the people of Iran, by pausing your day to stand with the international community around the globe.

Our stellar panel will present a timely, informative, and highly-engaging update on protest-related developments, with a special emphasis on the courageous and inspiring Iranian lawyers who are risking everything – their law licenses, their liberty, and even their very lives – to support the protesters and their demands for women’s freedom and their vision of a secular, democratic nation governed by the rule of law.

In the words of the protesters' rallying cry:  Zan. Zendegi. Azadi. — Women. Life. Freedom.

Participants