Iranian Writers Association: Arash Ganji Imprisoned Through Government Case-Building and Under Pretext of Book Translation
The Iranian Writers Association condemned the execution of Arash Ganji’s prison sentence on Tuesday in a statement, calling for his “unconditional release, other imprisoned members of the Association, and all political and ideological prisoners” in Iran.
Arash Ganji was arrested yesterday after appearing at the Evin Court’s sentence execution unit and transferred to Evin Prison.
In its statement, the Iranian Writers Association wrote that Arash Ganji, “like three former members of the board of directors, Reza Khandan (MahAbadi), Baktash Abtahi, and Keyvan Bazegh, struggled against government case-building for a long time and finally, under the pretext of translating a book about developments in Syrian Kurdistan and on the baseless and unfounded charges of ‘gathering and conspiracy to act against national security,’ ‘propaganda against the system,’ and ‘membership and cooperation with an opposition group,’ was thrown into prison.”
The statement continued: “Suppressors of freedom are always allies; translating a book about developments in one country becomes a criminal act in another country and sends the translator to prison.”
The Writers Association emphasized: “The Iranian Writers Association’s unconditional commitment to ‘freedom of expression without any restriction or exception’ has always tied the Association’s voice to the voice of the suppressed, the oppressed, and the protesting people; the voice of a people whose every protest has been answered with bullets, torture, and imprisonment. It is this very commitment that has kept the Association steadfast in defending freedom of expression despite killings, arrests, and detentions.”
The Writers Association stated that Arash Ganji suffers from heart disease and any pressure and stress seriously endangers his eyesight.
The Association holds the Islamic Republic government and the judicial branch “responsible for any harm to the health and life” of Arash Ganji.
Arash Ganji was arrested on December 21, 2019, following security forces’ visit to his home and was transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Evin Prison. He was later released on December 29 of the same year after posting a 450 million toman bail until the end of legal proceedings.
In the primary court trial, whose verdict was announced on December 10 of last year, the writer was sentenced to five years for charges including “gathering and conspiracy to act against national security,” one year for “propaganda against the system,” and five years for “membership and cooperation with an opposition group,” totaling 11 years in prison, of which five years are enforceable.
According to Arash Ganji’s defense lawyer, the instance of all these charges is the translation of a book about developments in Syrian Kurdistan (“A Small Key to a Large Gate”).
Source: Radio Farda
