At one point, uh, Brandon, does a judge or a prosecutor stop being someone who's, you know, applying an unjust law and become personally responsible for an international crime? And I know y- you, you h- are involved in this in, in terms of placing sanctions on some Iranian judges yourself.

Well, thank you very much, uh, Nigar, for having me on your program, for the important work you do in shining a spotlight on these crimes, uh, that are ongoing in Iran.

And, um, privileged to be on a panel with Ms. Idel and Ms. Boroumand, who have been trailblazers, um, in pursuing justice and accountability and documenting, uh, crimes in Iran for some time.

Um, in response to your question, we see an intensification of violence.

So it's not only an application of unjust laws, it is a draconian, punitive, and oftentimes independent application of that law by judges, uh, who themselves are a part of a corrupt and corrosive system.

Corrosive in that these decisions are not only a breach of international law and Iran's obligations that they've taken on themselves pursuant to their international commitments, but are a danger to citizens in Canada, in the UK, in the US.

The sense of impunity, the sense of fear that they are seeking to evoke amongst the population does not only apply to lawyers in Iran, of which there have been mass arrests and executions, but to lawyers outside Iran trying to speak out and act out on this.

So w- A, why is it so sensitive, and does the regime depend on stripping the identities of, of these individuals, uh, to make the executions that are more politically effective? And I also wanna know, you know, what would distinguish evidence of a coordinated policy from a collection of individual persecution when it's coming to lawyers like Davoudi?

What do you think?

Well, firstly, Nagar, thank you for having me on your program as a regular viewer.

It's a privilege to be a part of it, and particularly alongside panelists like Azadeh and Shaheen, whose work I deeply admire, and particularly appreciate your shining a spotlight on the plight and pain of the people of Iran.

And I would contextualize the stories you've shared, the heartbreaking You know, personal costs, everyday people with the staggering statistics that underpin it all that Iran continues to have.

So preceding these executions, Iran already had the highest per capita rate of executions in the world, the highest rate of child executions more generally, and the highest rate of state hostage taking globally.

and at the same time also the highest per capita rate of imprisoned journalists.

So clearly there is an effort to obfuscate, to hide these staggering statistics, which is part of why as well you and your colleagues at Iran International perhaps have been targeted for the same reason, that this information reaching the world is a source of fear for the regime.

So, Brandon, on a policy level then, with all of this in mind, what leverage do governments have to affect some sort of change here and to potentially influence the regime's calculations in the middle of this war? Because it appears like Shaheen and Azadeh were saying that the regime is essentially stalling and buying time right now.