On Sunday, February 27, two lawyers based inside Iran, Mohammad Reza Faghihi and Arash Keykhosravi, filed a lawsuit against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials of the Islamic Republic for negligence related to failures to contain Covid-19 in Iran.
According to the news website Emtedad, the two lawyers lodged a 22-page complaint against Khamenei, ex-President Hassan Rouhani and members of the National Coronavirus Taskforce, accusing them of being “accessories before the fact” in the manslaughter of more than 100,000 Iranian citizens, abuse of power and failure to carry out the law of the land. Faghihi and Keykhosravi also reportedly asked the prosecutor to seek expert opinion from independent civil institutions about the charges.
This is not the first time the pair have sought to take legal action against the Islamic Republic for failing to take effective action to control the pandemic. On August 14, 2021, Faghihi, Keykhosravi and four other lawyers and civil rights activists were arrested while they were preparing to file a lawsuit against the Iranian government on the same matter. Their homes were raided without a warrant and their phones and personal belongings confiscated.
Related coverage:
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The Supreme Leader is Criminally Liable for Iran’s Vaccine Crisis
Tehran's Covid Tsar Speaks Out on Vaccine Disaster
Fact Check: Are Vaccines Part of America and Britain’s Devious Plans?
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