Writers' Association strongly protests six-year prison sentences for three writers
The Iranian Writers' Association issued a statement on May 16 protesting the harsh sentences handed down to three of its members, Bektash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi, and Keyvan Bajan. Based on the verdict of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, the three writers have each been sentenced to six years in prison.
The trial of these three writers and members of the Writers' Association was held in early May, and the verdict was delivered to their lawyer on May 15. A day later, the Writers' Association, in a statement, called these verdicts a condemnation of all Iranian writers who want to enjoy the right to freedom of expression in Iran.
Examples of their accusations include attending the anniversary ceremony of Jafar Poyandeh and Mohammad Mokhtari, two members of the Writers' Association who were murdered in a series of murders. Another of their accusations is the publication of the book Fifty Years of the Writers' Association. However, in an interview with the Campaign after his court hearing, Bektash Abtin said that he had no involvement in the preparation of this book and had not been in Tehran, and that all the printed volumes of the book were stolen and never reached the members of the association themselves. The book after publication
The Writers' Association wrote in its statement : " This is not just the trial and conviction of three writers, it is not just the trial of the Writers' Association of Iran. It is the conviction of all writers and those who want to enjoy the right to freedom of expression. "
Reza Khandan Mahabadi, Keyvan Bajan, and Bektash Abtin, who have been summoned for questioning many times in recent years, were arrested and faced political charges . They are accused in the recent trial of two charges: “ propaganda against the system ” and “ gathering and colluding against national security. ” Bektash Abtin was tried on these two charges on May 28, 2019, in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bajan were tried on May 29, 2019, in the same branch. During these two days, some members of the Writers’ Association gathered in front of the court building to protest their trial and the pressure.
The publication of the four-volume book " Fifty Years of the Iranian Writers' Association ", which is one of the examples of these writers' accusations, was published by the editorial board of the 50th Anniversary Commission of the Iranian Writers' Association on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this non-governmental organization in a limited edition, but it never had a chance to be distributed even among the writers of the Association itself, because the printed copies of this book were stolen after leaving the printing house.
The Iranian Writers' Association wrote in its protest statement: "Three writers have been sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison for why they became members of the Iranian Writers' Association; why they published the internal publication of a cultural organization; why they compiled the documents and records of the association's fifty years of activities in a book; why they visited the graves of Ahmad Shamloo, Mohammad Mokhtari, and Jafar Poyandeh; why they signed statements defending freedom of expression for writers and artists and opposing executions and censorship."
The statement continued: “Which “national security” is this that publishing a protest publication and statement is considered an action against? Whose security is endangered by membership in the association and visiting the graves of poets and writers? Any court that is even slightly fair and independent and respects even a little bit of human rights would consider this type of “documentation” not as evidence of a crime but as an excuse for making a case. In fact, what has been used in the case and trial of the three members of the association as the basis for the accusation and the issuance of a verdict is nothing more than a step towards freedom of expression and opposition to censorship.”
In its statement, the Iranian Writers' Association called the accusations against its members a case-building exercise and called for the "unconditional cancellation of these sentences and the closure of the cases" of its members.
And finally, it called for an end to the “repressive” sentences against writers. The statement said that these repressions and sentences “have been used in recent decades to spread fear and suppress freedom of expression.”
The Iranian Writers' Association is a non-governmental organization consisting of writers, translators, editors, and part of the World Pen Association. It officially declared its existence in 1968 with the aim of organizing writers' guilds and fighting censorship. Since its inception, and especially during the 1960s and 1970s, the Writers' Association and its members have faced varying degrees of repression, from censorship and prosecution to murder. Mohammad Jafar Poyandeh and Mohammad Mokhtari were among the members of the Writers' Association who were murdered in the course of the serial killings.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
