International PEN Calls for Release of Political and Conscience Prisoners
International PEN released a statement on Twitter calling on the Islamic Republic to free political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
International PEN announced on Monday, April 28, by posting this statement on Twitter and referring to claims by Iranian officials about the release of thousands of prisoners following the spread of coronavirus from Iranian prisons: “Iranian authorities have temporarily released thousands of prisoners. However, despite this, many conscience prisoners and prisoners of conscience remain behind bars.”
The organization called on the authorities of the Iranian government to ensure that all those imprisoned for peacefully expressing their views are “released immediately and unconditionally.”
In early March of last year, Ibrahim Raisi, head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, issued a new circular providing for limited furloughs for a group of prisoners sentenced to imprisonment under certain conditions, a circular that, according to one of its provisions, political prisoners charged with “acts against national security” and sentenced to more than 5 years in prison are “exempted from being sent on furlough.”
As a result, most political and conscience prisoners who have sentences of more than 5 years were not covered by this circular, and with the spread of coronavirus in Iranian prisons, the lives of countless prisoners have been put at risk.
International PEN, with nearly 100 years of history, is a non-political and non-governmental organization whose members are writers from various countries around the world. An organization that defines its goal as “bringing together writers who are devoted to values such as freedom, tolerance and peace.”
Source: Voice of America
