1591 Days in Prison; Calls for Release of Environmental Activists in Iran Continue
Nine former political prisoners issued an open letter on Sunday, June 5, criticizing the Islamic Republic’s treatment of imprisoned environmental activists in Iran.
These political prisoners, who were previously cellmates with Sepideh Kashani and Niloofar Bayani, wrote in their letter: “Rulers who want to sever every connection between people and each other and with their environment, and silence the truth, are imprisoning individuals who are attempting to save nature and preserve its vitality and survival with the weapons of knowledge and awareness.”
The letter was written simultaneously with World Environment Day on June 5, and was published by BBC Persian. The signatories of the letter are Kylie Moore Gilbert, Nazanin Zaghari, Ares Amiri, Athena Daemi, Parisa Rafiei, Nazi Askouei, Shokofeh Yadollahi, Negin Ghadamyan, and Sepideh Farhan.
Eight environmental activists were arrested in Iran in February 2018, with seven of them still serving their prison sentences.
During this period, the United States, the United Nations, and human rights defenders have repeatedly called for the release of these individuals and described their prison sentences as “unjust.”
Meanwhile, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, also called for the release of Iranian environmental activists from prison. She wrote on her Twitter in Persian: “We have only one Earth and no one should be prosecuted for protecting it.”
Source: Voice of America
