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10 Political Prisoners Express Solidarity with the Baha'i Community in Iran Facing Intense Pressure
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reposted from @Narges_Mohammadi_51
In a letter from Evin Prison, 10 political prisoners stated:
Our differences in political views and beliefs have never, do not, and will never obstruct our support for human rights. Silence in the face of oppression only emboldens the regime, making its actions less costly and leading to repeated and intensified abuses.
Our Baha’i compatriots have been deprived of all social rights for decades under tyranny. In the 1980s, with the catastrophic elimination of political opponents and dissidents, nearly three hundred of our Baha’i compatriots were disappeared, went missing, or were executed by the government, and thousands more were deprived of the most basic social rights and driven from their homes.
One of the most shocking stories we have heard from the Baha’i community relates to the execution of 10 women in the 1980s who were taken to the execution site together and executed one by one in front of each other’s eyes. The last of them was an underage teenager (who is considered a child according to international treaties) who, before her arrest, was studying and teaching young children. Her only conflict with the system was a belief that had no manifestation in her social life.
After years of imprisonment alongside Baha’i women, witnessing the relentless pressures and injustices they endure for their beliefs, and hearing their stories across generations, we unequivocally recognize that “our story is identical.”
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We who have always been excluded from various social and political arenas in different ways due to differing political or ideological views, and some of us have been deprived of the right to life. Deprivation of the right to life and denial of social, civil rights, and consequently the confiscation or destruction of Baha’i properties has long occurred and has become a norm for the repressive system. Hearing the story of a mother in a village in northern Iran, with a worn-out face and a bent back, who was attacked by destroyers while working on her farm, trying to prevent officials from destroying her garden and home, was a great sorrow. A mother who had lost her child in the Iran-Iraq war and now, because of her belief, had her land, home, and the source of her livelihood, the result of a lifetime of work, destroyed, deprived, or withheld from her.
We have had years of experience living with Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, and other Baha’i citizens, and we have learned a lot from them. Besides what has been imposed on them and their families due to years of imprisonment, depriving society of their presence and teachings is a great loss. Our silence in the face of this oppression against a group of society whose mere existence as Baha’i citizens has been criminalized has made these crimes less costly for the regime and paved the way for their repetition and intensification.
Differences in our political views and beliefs have never, do not, and will never hinder our support for human rights. Just as we have united against repression despite our political and ideological differences, turning the streets of Iran into a battleground for justice, we stand together now.
WE STAND BY OUR BAHA’I COMPATRIOTS UNTIL THE END OF SUFFERING IMPOSED ON THEM.
Mahboubeh Rezayi,
Hasti Amiri,
Samaneh Asghari,
Sakineh Parvaneh,
Maryam Yahyaei,
Nahid Taghavi,
Narges Mohammadi,
Anisha Assadollahi,
Sepideh Gholian,
Golrokh Iraee
June 17, 2024
Women’s Ward,
Evin Prison Iran
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
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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
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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