(PEN/IFEX) – The following is a PEN American Center press release: PRESS RELEASE July 15, 1999 URGENT MESSAGE FROM IRANIAN WRITERS PEN SUPPORTS APPEAL FOR FREE EXPRESSION PEN American Center calls your attention to the following urgent appeal by Iranian writers in response to the recent wave of violence and censorship. Please circulate widely among […]
(PEN/IFEX) – The following is a PEN American Center press release:
PRESS RELEASE
July 15, 1999
URGENT MESSAGE FROM IRANIAN WRITERS
PEN SUPPORTS APPEAL FOR FREE EXPRESSION
PEN American Center calls your attention to the following urgent appeal by
Iranian writers in response to the recent wave of violence and censorship.
Please circulate widely among your constituency.
“In the name of God, the Protector of Life and Wisdom
These are fateful days. In recent years, suspicious hands have murdered
individuals from the writers’ community including, Ahmad Mirallai, Ghafar
Hosseini, Ahmad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh. Among publishers, the
death of Ebrahim Zalzadeh, and among political activists, the murders of
Daryoush and Parvaneh Forouhar and the fate of Pirouz Davani remain
unresolved.
The assault and ambush of Tehran Univesity students’ dormitories and the
bloodshed of students who were guilty of nothing other than their struggle
for the most rudimentary human rights – freedom of thought and expression –
is yet another testament to the efforts of those who seek to crush and
eliminate these rights. The struggle goes on.
We applaud and hold in honor the students who are fighting to establish
freedoms of thought and expression for all without exception, and whose dark
and dingy dorm rooms have been transformed into holes filled with burnt
papers and blankets, broken radios and crushed kettles. As well as
sympathizing with the students, we ask authorities at all levels for the
following:
1. An immediate and open trial for the perpetrators of the deaths of the
intellectuals last November-December 1998;
2. The removal from office and other positions of power, and the trial of
the masterminds behind and attackers of the student dorms at Tehran
University;
3. The immediate and unconditional release of all students detained –
including students from the University of Tehran, Tabriz and other
universities around the country who participated in the recent protests;
4. The removal of the press law amendments from the jurisdiction of the
Majlis (Parliament);
5. Removal of obstacles to the publication of Salaam, Jameah Salem, Zan,
Rah-e No, Takapoo, and Naveed-e Esfahan and the Iranian publication of
Gardoun. Furthermore, from now on, all issues pertaining to the print media
and cases against it should come under the jurisdiction of the press courts
in the presence of a jury;
6. Pressure groups involved in the latest violence, and also known to be the
arsonists of bookstores, attackers of funeral processions, and lawful
gatherings, should be identified and brought to trial.
We Iranian writers as well as condemning the violence and the agents who aim
to overtake society with these actions, support the lawful demands of the
students for their rights. We hope that civil institutions will grow in our
country and that the freedom of thought and expression will become a
fundamental part of our society.”
The Interim Executive Committee of the Iranian Writers’ Association Tehran,
July 14, 1999
