Watchdog

An Iranian political activist member of a group called "Iran's Democratic Party" has received 30 lashes after being convicted of charges that are often brought against dissidents, including acting against national security.

The Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners has posted photos of Faraji's welt-covered back after the sentence was carried out.

Faraji reportedly has also been given a three-year suspended prison sentence and a fine.

Unlike the lashing sentence that was carried out last week against a female doctoral student of sociology that received lots of attention and condemnation, Faraji's sentence has gone largely unnoticed.

Iran has ordered that a number of rights activists and workers be lashed in recent years, although in at least some cases those sentences were suspended.

In 2008, at least four workers who had took part in May Day celebrations and called for greater rights were lashed for "disrupting public order and participating in an unauthorized gathering."

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

BAKU -- A lawyer who recently defended four opposition activists in a Baku court has been disbarred by the Azerbaijani Bar Association, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

The bar association stated on September 16 that Elchin Namazov was being punished and banned from practicing law because he had broken "ethics rules for lawyers."

It added that the decision was based on a letter sent by Shahin Abdullayev, a judge in Baku's Nasimi district.

Abdullayev said Namazov had violated the ethics rules while speaking with the judge on August 27 during the trial of four opposition activists.

Namazov spoke out against the bar association's decision, saying "I defended a lot of political activists but didn't ever expect such a ruling to be made against me."

He told RFE/RL that the judge "misinterpreted a minor incident." Namazov said he will challenge the decision in court.

Lawyer Khalid Bagired was also recently disbarred by Azerbaijan's bar association for one year. The ban came shortly after he had also defended the rights of a group of opposition activists.