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Mohammad Rasoulof, sentenced to prison and flogging, flees Iran
May 13, 2024 Breaking news: Mohammad Rasoulof has fled Iran on foot through its mountainous border region. From an as-yet undisclosed location in Europe, he issued a statement on the eve of the start of Cannes 2024 festival, excerpted below.
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I had to choose between prison and leaving Iran. With a heavy heart, I chose exile. The Islamic Republic confiscated my passport in September 2017. Therefore, I had to leave Iran secretly…
Right now as I'm writing this, the young rapper, Toomaj Salehi is held in prison and has been sentenced to death. The scope and intensity of repression has reached a point of brutality where people expect news of another heinous government crime every day...
Many of the actors and agents of the film are still in Iran and the intelligence system is pressuring them. They have been put through lengthy interrogations. The families of some of them were summoned and threatened. Due to their appearance in this movie, court cases were filed against them, and they were banned from leaving the country. They raided the office of the cinematographer, and all his work equipment was taken away. They also prevented the film's sound engineer from traveling to Canada. During the interrogations of the film crew, the intelligence forces asked them to pressure me to withdraw the film from the Cannes Festival...
Many people helped to make this film. My thoughts are with all of them, and I fear for their safety and well-being.
Full statement on Variety.
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May 11, 2024: Just before the opening of Mohammad Rasoulof's latest film at the Cannes Film Festival, an appeals court in Iran confirmed his prior sentence to 8 years in prison, flogging, and the confiscation of his property. This was he refused to give in to heavy pressure from Iranian authorities to withdraw the film, Seed of the Sacred Fig, set to compete for the Palme d'Or, a family drama set in the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022.
Rasoulof's lawyer, Babak Paknia, announced on X, “The main reason for issuing this sentence is for signing statements and making films and documentaries. In the court’s opinion, these actions were examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security.”
Deadline.com published a statement from Tribeca Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal:
“Mohammad Rasoulof’s courageous works have consistently sought to shine a light on societal issues, offering invaluable insights through a cinematic lens and underscores his unwavering commitment to the pursuit of truth and the promotion of human rights through artistic expression... Art is not a crime; it’s dialogue with humanity. Today, we stand in solidarity with Mohammad Rasoulof, echoing his courage and commitment to these truths.”
The Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association wrote in Instagram:
"Sentencing Mohammad Rasoulof to imprisonment, whipping and the confiscation of his property reveals the Islamic judicial system in Iran as a tool for seeking revenge on political dissidents. These unjust actions only serve as a reminder that authoritarianism often masks itself as a power but is ultimately driven by fear.
"The Islamic regime in Iran, facing failures both domestically and internationally, has attempted to assert its strength through brutal tactics such as the murder and sexual assault of protesting youth, detention of women who defy the mandatory Hijab law, and imposing economic hardships on the Iranians.
"Evidently, a regime that is structured based on the suffering of the people is destined to crumble soon.
IIFMA, along with freedom lovers worldwide, denounces the absurd sentencing of Mohammad Rasoulof and stand in solidarity with him and all artists who resist censorship, bravely challenging the regime’s legitimacy.”
14 Political Prisoners Condemn the Death Sentence of Toomaj Salehi
Female and male political prisoners in Evin prison overcame the segregation of their units and braved great risks to themselves by publishing the following letter against the execution sentence of beloved rebel rapper Toomaj Salehi. The English translation was posted by Narges.Foundation on April 27, 2024.
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Our silence today dictates the fate of each of us tomorrow.
The shameless issuance of a death sentence for Toomaj Salehi, a committed artist and human rights activist, using a notorious process in the courts of the regime, has once again exposed the anti-human nature and the depth of corruption of this government.
These days, the Islamic republic, intoxicated by the illusion of external authority, is desperate for internal power and spares no effort. On one hand, by deploying troops, it has turned the streets into a battleground against the women of Iran who seek freedom, and on the other hand, in its struggle to exact revenge on protesters and opponents, it lies in wait to crush the hopes of society.
In response to the most civil forms of struggle and even protests expressed through art, it reacts with utmost cruelty, demonstrating its power through inhuman sentences, long imprisonments, and exile, and “nooses ready for the neck,” against a defenseless people, warning the society that any protest, even non-violent and civil, awaits the claw of tyranny.
It seems intent on a vendetta against a society that has neutralized “victory through terror,” committed to eliminating all critics and opponents of the current situation, aiming to keep every concerned citizen in fear of government-organized repression and murder.
The message of the rulers regarding Toomaj’s verdict has reached us clearly! Beware, for the consequence of our silence today will be the decree of our future, where every voice will be stifled. Unaware that the end of this absolute corruption will be with the infinite power of the people’s resistance in these very occupied streets.
Golrokh Iraee, Hasti Amiri, Rasoul Badaghi, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Amirsalar Davoudi, Vida Rabbani, Hossein Razzaq, Reza Shahabi, Narges Mohammadi, Abdollah Momeni, Mohammad Najafi, Sedigheh Vasmaghi, Faezeh Hashemi, Maryam Yahyavi
Evin Prison
April 26, 2024
"The government must be held responsible for Sara's death": Cellmates in Evin
The government must be held responsible for Sara's death, previous cellmates of Sara Tabrizi said in a statement from Evin Prison, posted by @free.nahid and @narges_mohamadi_51
She was with us for a week. Her fears were not alien to us. She spoke about her lonely nights in solitary confinement and her terror of the interrogators’ threats becoming reality. She said after three nights alone in the cells of Ward 209 of the Ministry of Information, due to the intensity of her heartbeat and nervous attacks, she was transferred to the Prison Health Clinic and then to a communal cell after the doctor’s prescription.
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From the next day, she was under pressure in the interrogation room, warned that if she didn’t cooperate, she would be returned to previous conditions, solitary confinement. She didn’t know what cooperation meant. She only knew she didn’t want to become a captive by the delusions she was afflicted with.
Sara Tabrizi, a twenty-year-old girl with no experience facing such an environment, had intended to leave Iran for her dreams before she got involved with the security forces.
If Sarah had lived in a society free of suppression and discrimination, without the tyranny and exploitation of life, she wouldn’t have decided to leave the country nor would she have met such a bitter end.
After she was released on bail from prison, Sara understood the concept of cooperation. The repeated calls and interrogator’s insistence on what Sarah was not willing to give in to. And then the threats to re-arrest and the disclosure of her private information.
On March 23, Sara [was contacted by] the Tehran [police] department and the day after that, she was [found dead at home].
Regardless of the circumstances under which it occurred, the responsibility for this death lies with the government.
Like the deaths of thousands who have disappeared under the control of governments, under decades of fascist dictatorship, vanished without a trace.
Like many who have lost their eyes or have been physically disabled in some way.
Like many of our children who, for greater security or to achieve their dreams, have been forced to leave their homeland.
And like many who have been imprisoned for years and their homes’ lights have gone out.
Although the government will not be held accountable and will try to evade responsibility with another trick if necessary, the responsibility for this crime, like those committed before, will be on its shoulders and and will one day be held accountable before the people.
Signatories:
Narges Mohammadi
Nahid Taqhavi
Anisha Asadollahi
epideh Gholian
Reihaneh Ansari Nejad
Mahbooubeh Rezaei
Mariam Haj Hosseini
Golrokh Iraee
@golrokh.iraee @free.nahid @anishaasadollahi @sepide_qoliyan #saratabrizi
Evin Women Sit In to Support Narges Mohammadi; Nahid Taghavi Sent Back to Evin
In the days before elections in Iran on March 1, for which the ruling theocrats desperately tried to drum up participation, the regime took several vengeful steps against political prisoners. They denied 2023 Nobel Prize winner Narges Mohammadi’s request to attend her father’s funeral, sparking protest in Evin Prison and outrage beyond. And they suddenly terminated Nahid Taghavi’s medical furlough, and returned her back to prison.
On February 29, female political prisoners staged a sit-in protest according to an Akhbar Rooz newspaper report[i]. Described in the social media of Golrokh Iraee, imprisoned along with Narges Mohammadi in the political prisoners’ women’s ward,, women prisoners “fortified” the ward and sang protest anthems to demand that the prison grant Narges leave to attend her father’s services that were held that same day[ii]:
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[Sitting in] in Evin Prison Women's ward they sang the anthem [“Blood of the Purple Tulip”] in protest against the refusal to allow Narges Mohammadi to be present at her father's funeral...
Narges Mohammadi has not been able to contact her family by phone since November 29 [2023].
It is the most basic human and legal right of all prisoners to be able to be with their family and other relatives to endure such a loss.
Karim Mohammadi, the father of Nargis Mohammadi, died on [February 27] without even hearing his daughter's voice for 3 months and without seeing her for 22 months.
Sixty women in Evin signed a statement of condolence and support which noted that “Mr. Karim Mohammadi, a man of honor, spent his later years while his daughter, Narges, endured years of separation from her children in government prisons. Despite never seeing Narges and being deprived of her voice in his last months, he consistently encouraged her to stand against injustice. On February 25th, 2024, at age ninety-two, he joined the hunger strike in Evin Prison protesting the execution of young people.”
Nahid Taghavi Ordered Back to Evin
Mariam Claren, daughter of political prisoner Nahid Taghavi, announced via social media and press interviews on February 29:
Randomly and for no apparent reason my 69-year-old mother Nahid Taghavi was forced to return to Evin Prison last night.
She was released on January 9 with an electronic ankle [bracelet] due to health reasons. Necessary medical care was hardly possible during this time, as her freedom of movement was limited to 1,000 meters from her apartment. In addition, she had developed a painful eye disease in the last weeks, which needs to be strictly monitored by doctors. Nahid Taghavi suffers from severe joint pain, herniated discs, hypertension and diabetes.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and its judicial system are responsible for everything that happens to my mother.”
Mariam Claren’s post ends with this urgent call, which we echo wholeheartedly:
I ask all freedom loving people to be the voice of my mother and all political prisoners.
#FreeNahid #cuttherope
[i] “News Bulletin: Female political prisoners staged a sit-in in support of Narges Mohammadi”, Akhbar Rooz (in Farsi), February 29, 2024.
[ii] https://www.instagram.com/p/C351YrJLig6/ Translation to English by IEC volunteers.