Young Iranian poets sentenced to 19.5 years in prison
11:45 PM
A Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced the poets Fatemeh Ekhtesari (29) and Mehdi Mousavi (39) to 11 years and 99 lashes, and 9 years and 99 lashes respectively. The sentence is based on charges of “insulting the sacred” “propaganda against the regime”, “publishing immoral photos on the internet” and “shaking hands with a member of the opposite sex”.
Ekhtesari and Mousavi are both famous in Iran for their postmodern poems and social criticism, and were arrested in december 2013. At the time they both served 1 month in the notorious Evin prison, after which they got out on bail. On the day of his first arrest, the two were on their way to Turkey, when they were stopped at the airport and told that they were put under travel bans. That day, Mehdi Mousavi wrote on his Facebook wall:
“I and Fatemeh Ekthesari were prevented from leaving the country this morning and our passports were confiscated. We do not know the reason… Why have I been facing problems for years to hold a literary workshop and even classes to teach rhyme and meter? Why are our books banned despite taking care to select the poems and passing the censorship of the poet, editor and publisher? Why should the oppositionist swear at me for writing war poetry and the pro-regime activist swear at me for have read a rumour about me?… I have been often in the same conditions as the artist who killed themselves after years of failing to obtain permission. Do you know how many times I have thought about death? What is the body of an artist worth when their soul is tortured and killed?…”
It should be noted that the books of poetry by both Ekhtesari and Mousavi had received permits from the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and had been published legally in Iran. According to the pair’s lawyer, Amir Raeisian, their writing contains no content that could be deemed to “insult sanctities”. After a wait of more than 18 months, Ekhtesari has been sentenced to 11 years and Mousavi to 8.5 years.
More about this?
http://linkis.com/www.pen.org/press-re/DA9xf
http://linkis.com/www.pen.org/press-re/DA9xf
http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/iran-two-poets-released/
Image: Pen International
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