A number of Kurdish lawyers have issued a statement that condemns any form of violence and declares their support of the legitimate and legal demands of the people.

The statement, a copy of which has been submitted to Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), reads as follows:

In the past few days, several protestors have been arrested following the mass protests against administrative, cultural and economic corruption in various cities.

We, the signatories below, support the legitimate demands of the people and condemn any violence while reiterating that:

1. In accordance with the Constitution and Charter of Citizenship Rights by the President, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people are free to express their demands and criticize civil sovereignty.

2. The inherent duty of the government is to ensure that freedom, rights and the legitimate demands of the people are met, to fight with any kind of widespread and systematic corruption in all economic, legal and social eras in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner. In this regard, necessary arrangements should be made for the return of publicly owned plunder from the three forces as soon as possible.

3. The fact that any movement of a social and political protest may be supported by individuals, organisations abroad or foreign states for different purposes should not be an excuse for neglecting the demands of people.

4. Peaceful civil and constitutional protests are the best way of expressing legitimate demands. Public property should not be destructed as such action distorts the legitimate nature of people’s demands.

5. According to the Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code, the detainees must be respected without any exceptions and discrimination.

We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure that all the principles of the constitution and the rights of the detainees of the recent events are implemented without discrimination in the pursuit of providing a serious basis for dialogue and meeting the demands of the people.

1. Saleh Nikbakht
2.Maziar Tataei
3.Kaywan Azizi
4.Amir Sajadi
5. Arash Rajabi Kermanshahi
6.Abdulla Minaei
7. Hameh Sohrabi
8.Ismaeil Rahimi
9.Farhad MajidAabadi
10. Hossain HamadiNiaz
11. Manouchehr Dawar
12. Osman Mozain
13. Arash Fatehi Bokani
14. Sedigheh Hojat Panah
15. Ibrahim Azizi
16. masourd Shamsnejad
17. Hamed Karimi
18. Mostafa Aahmadian
19. Behrouz Naebandi
20. Sirus Payfosherdeh
21. Kaveh Alizadeh
22. Saman Aajami
23. Abdulwaset Pourzadi
24. Azad Kaykhosrawi