HRW:

Eight environmental activists arbitrarily detained in Iran in January and February 2018 remain in detention eight months later without clear charges, Human Rights Watch said today. 

On September 30, family members said on social media that judicial authorities had told them that the detained environmentalists can only be represented by lawyers from a pre-approved list of 20 that the judiciary had published in June. The authorities have not allowed the detained environmentalists access to lawyers of their choice or set a trial date.

“Iran’s judiciary is again highlighting its role as key functionaries in a repressive state machinery rather than defenders of justice,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Even though the environmentalists have spent eight months in pretrial detention, the authorities have still not come up with a criminal charge against them.”