Keyvan Samimi: I'm going to prison, I'll come back, I'll continue.
Keyvan Samimi, a political activist and board member of the Association for the Defense of Press Freedom, who has been summoned to serve a three-year prison sentence, said in an interview with the Human Rights Campaign in Iran: “I will go to prison, I will return, and I will continue. I live by my principles and beliefs, and I will continue on the same path in the future.”
Mr. Samimi told the campaign, “Because I am not seeking a political position for myself and am more of an idealist than a politician, I act very transparently and do not believe in secrecy at all. An example is my Telegram channel, where I write about social movements. I know they are sensitive about it and say that your work is rebellion, unrest, and incitement to unrest.”
Keyvan Samimi, editor-in-chief of Iran Farda, is the editor-in-chief of the banned monthly magazine, Nameh, and a member of the board of directors of the Association for the Defense of Press Freedom. He is 72 years old and has been imprisoned for 57 years before the revolution and for many years after. Mr. Samimi was arrested on June 13, 2009, and sentenced by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court to 6 years in prison and a lifetime ban on political, social, and cultural activities. The Court of Appeals upheld the prison sentence and reduced his ban to 15 years. He was released from prison in 2015 after completing his sentence, but was arrested in May 2019 at a rally marking International Workers’ Day in Tehran and sentenced to three years in prison by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. On Thursday, August 20, Mr. Samimi posted a picture of his summons on his Telegram channel, writing that he would be sent to prison on Monday.
In an interview with the campaign, Mr. Samimi said about his arrest and sentence: “The main charge is gathering and collusion against the security of the country, and according to the gentlemen, illegal assembly on Labor Day, which carries a prison sentence of two to five years, and I was given three years in prison. The charge of propaganda against the system and insulting the leadership was also in the interrogations, where the interrogator would say, ‘You said such and such in such a speech and you said such and such on such and such a trip to such and such a city.’ That is, they had taken away all my activities after my release from prison in 2015, but during the court proceedings I was acquitted of these two charges.”
He explained: “A kind of fear and self-censorship has developed in society and among politicians and activists after 2009 and the violent clashes and long prison sentences. When I returned from prison in 2015, I saw this fear in most of my friends and activists. A few people say that the government does not want this and considers it necessary to silence people, or to put a sword of Damocles over their heads or to send them to prison, so that it does not spread. I write on my Telegram channel about promoting the social movement I am considering, and they are sensitive about this, even though I believe that the movement is based on non-violent demands. They accuse me of encouraging riots and unrest.”
Mr. Samimi referred to his 50-year history of activity in the political and civil arena of Iran and told the campaign: “I have many connections with civil movements, teachers’ activists, labor activists, students, and youth, which is the result of more than 50 years of political work. But because I am not looking for a political position for myself and I am more of an idealist than a politician, I act very transparently and do not believe in secrecy at all. An example is my Telegram channel, where I write about social movements. I know they are sensitive about it and say that your work is rebellion and unrest and incitement to unrest. But I still continue. I go to prison, I come back, I continue again. I live by my principles and beliefs and I will continue the same path in the future. I have achieved unity with my beliefs, it is in my being and I am not kidding myself. I do not see political work as a hobby or a second job. My job, work, and profession have been political activity and journalism professionally and full-time for about twenty years, and prison does not stop me.”
Keyvan Samimi referred to his interrogations in Ward 209 of Evin Detention Center and told the campaign: “During the interrogations in 2009, they said you were among the revolutionaries and you made a revolution, and they put watermelons under my armpits and said if we send you to court, we will say they will give you 6 years in prison, and we don’t want that. In the end, it was 6 years. They made suggestions like an interview, which I didn’t accept. They said go abroad, we will arrange for you ourselves, and at first we will pay for your expenses ourselves. I said I won’t go abroad, I am here and I am fighting. You say I am a subversive, that is your opinion, but I will continue my peaceful struggle.”
Keyvan Samimi wrote on his Telegram channel in response to the summons to enforce the prison sentence, “The security forces, who want to continue to control my legal case, believe that by imprisoning an old nationalist who openly defends a demand-based social movement, they can inflict a blow to the peaceful protests of the poor by, for example, creating fear.”
Mr. Samimi wrote: “The leading labor organizations have found their right path and, despite paying the price, will strengthen the nonviolent movement, which is the only way to achieve union and social rights. As a follower of the social movement, I too, from prison, will be able to be more effective than now in strengthening workers’ rights and justice.”
Source: Human Rights Campaign
