2015: Iran: Ekhtesari and Moosavi
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Your Excellency,
I hereby write to you calling for the immediate quash of the conviction and sentences of poets and lyricists Fatameh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi.
It has come to the attention of PEN International and Writers in Prison Committee that Ekhtesari and Moosavi were sentenced to 11,5 and nine years in prison, respectively, on 12 October 2015 for crimes including «insulting the holy sanctities». They were also sentenced to 99 lashes each for «illicit relations».
We are also calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all other writers and journalists currently detained in Iran in connection with their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.
Yours sincerely
Magnhild Bruheim
Writers in Prison Committee
Norwegian PEN
Copy: The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
