Well-known Iranian lawyer involved in Mahsa Amini protests arrested

An Iranian lawyer who has been a vocal opponent of the government’s crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 has been arrested, state media reported on Sunday.

The 22-year-old woman’s death sparked widespread social unrest and demonstrations after reports emerged that she had been arrested for improperly wearing her headscarf and subsequently died in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police.

Mohsen Borhani, a Tehran-based lawyer and law professor, rose to prominence on social media as a vocal dissident and supporter of the broader anti-government, pre-women’s rights movement “Women, Life, Freedom” that emerged after Amini’s death.

Details of Borhani’s arrest have not been made public, but according to Iran’s judicial media agency Mizan, the lawyer had previously been convicted.

In the Iranian government’s subsequent crackdown, at least 500 people were killed and another 22,000 arrested, according to a United Nations investigation.

Borhani’s arrest came just one day after reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian was declared the winner of the runoff vote in Iran’s presidential election.

Pezeshkian defeated hardliner Saeed Jalili in a snap election to succeed the recently deceased Ebrahim Raisi. His election program called for improving economic conditions through reconciliation with the West and relaxing the strict enforcement of the country’s hijab law.