Innlegg
The crackdown on critical voices in Iran
Tid: Tuesday, January 25, kl. 19.00 CET
Location: Stream on PEN Norway’s Facebook page
Organizer: PEN Norway
Narges Mohammadi is a courageous journalist and human rights defender in Iran. But she has paid a high price. In November 2021, Mohammadi was arrested yet again and is now facing 80 lashes.
September 2011, Mohammadi was sentenced to 11 years in prison for her work advocating against death penalty. The sentence was reduced to six years on appeal in April 2012. As a result of her imprisonment, her health severely declined. In May 2019, Mohammadi underwent an emergency hysterectomy, but after the surgery she was immediately transferred back to Evin prison where she was denied necessary medication. In May 2021, a court sentenced her to 80 lashes, 30 months in prison and a fine – a sentence which has been declared “final and enforceable.”
The brutal persecution of Mohammadi illustrates the severe crackdown on and mistreatment of critical voices in Iran. In her documentary film, “White Torture”, Mohammadi talks about her experience, prison torture and how prison conditions caused severe health problems. In the film, we meet several political prisoners in Iran who continue to bear the traumas of their imprisonment. In fact, the film is a response to understanding how solitary confinement forces a person to confess and even turn against oneself.
PEN Norway invites you to a conversation about the resistance of Narges Mohammadi, her current situation, and the treatment of political prisoners and activists in Iran, followed by the screening of her documentary film “White Torture.”
PROGRAMME
In the conversation:
– Taghi Rahmani, Narges Mohammadi’s husband, journalist, writer and activist
– Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner (2003), political activist, lawyer and a former judge
– Asieh Amini, journalist, poet and Board member of PEN Norway
– Benyamin Farnam, filmmaker and Communications Worker at PEN Norway
– Moderator: Moloud Hajizadeh, journalist
The event will be in English, and will be streamed on PEN Norway’s Facebook page.
Arrangementer
Report launch: PEN Norway Turkey Indictment Project Report 2021
Time: Wednesday 23 March, 15:00-17:00 CET
Location: The House of Literature, Oslo / live stream (the link to the live stream will be shared closer to the event)
ABOUT THE EVENT
PEN Norway has since Spring 2020 brought together legal experts from different countries, including Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom, as well as academics and experts on the ground in Turkey to study indictments in cases of journalists and civil society actors in Turkey. PEN Norway has further commissioned articles on the history of and current state of the judicial system in Turkey as well as the specific issues concerning the state of the freedom of speech.
The study asks whether these indictments meet domestic and international standards. After publishing 12 indictment reports in 2020, we have brought on a team of excellent international lawyers and scholars with great knowledge of the law and society of Turkey to examine 10 more recent indictments in 2021.
On 23 March 2022, PEN Norway will hold the launch of our Turkey Indictment Project Final Report 2021. At this event, we have invited distinguished experts from Europe and Turkey to discuss the current crisis in the rule of law and avenues for practical and effective advocacy to mitigate the further erosion of the rule of law. These interventions will be followed by a panel discussion with the focus on the ongoing fight for the right of freedom of expression in Turkey with the participation of unique experts from the field.
The event will be in English. It will be live streamed on PEN Norway’s website.
REGISTER HERE: https://forms.gle/Crew9gBpsTB4EgoA7
PROGRAMME
Welcome: Kjersti Løken Stavrum, President, PEN Norway
Introduction: Caroline Stockford, Turkey Adviser, PEN Norway
Interventions: The rule of law in Turkey and the Turkey Indictment Project
– Tora Pekin, Human Rights Lawyer, Turkey
– Hannah Beck, Lawyer, Austria
– Clarissa Fondi, Lawyer, Austria
– Tony Fisher, Lawyer, United Kingdom
BREAK: coffee/tea and snacks will be served
Panel conversation: The fight for the Right of Freedom of Expression:
The case of journalists, lawyers and students in Turkey today
– Barış Altıntaş, co-founder and co-Director, Media and Law Studies Association
– Deniz Yücel, journalist and publisher, WELT newspaper
– Berna Akkızal, Executive Director, Civic Space Studies Association
Moderator: Şerife Ceren Uysal, Turkey Indicitment Reports Supervisor,
PEN Norway
Q&A session
The crackdown on critical voices in Iran
Tid: Tuesday, January 25, kl. 19.00 CET
Location: Stream on PEN Norway’s Facebook page
Organizer: PEN Norway
Narges Mohammadi is a courageous journalist and human rights defender in Iran. But she has paid a high price. In November 2021, Mohammadi was arrested yet again and is now facing 80 lashes.
September 2011, Mohammadi was sentenced to 11 years in prison for her work advocating against death penalty. The sentence was reduced to six years on appeal in April 2012. As a result of her imprisonment, her health severely declined. In May 2019, Mohammadi underwent an emergency hysterectomy, but after the surgery she was immediately transferred back to Evin prison where she was denied necessary medication. In May 2021, a court sentenced her to 80 lashes, 30 months in prison and a fine – a sentence which has been declared “final and enforceable.”
The brutal persecution of Mohammadi illustrates the severe crackdown on and mistreatment of critical voices in Iran. In her documentary film, “White Torture”, Mohammadi talks about her experience, prison torture and how prison conditions caused severe health problems. In the film, we meet several political prisoners in Iran who continue to bear the traumas of their imprisonment. In fact, the film is a response to understanding how solitary confinement forces a person to confess and even turn against oneself.
PEN Norway invites you to a conversation about the resistance of Narges Mohammadi, her current situation, and the treatment of political prisoners and activists in Iran, followed by the screening of her documentary film “White Torture.”
PROGRAMME
In the conversation:
– Taghi Rahmani, Narges Mohammadi’s husband, journalist, writer and activist
– Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner (2003), political activist, lawyer and a former judge
– Asieh Amini, journalist, poet and Board member of PEN Norway
– Benyamin Farnam, filmmaker and Communications Worker at PEN Norway
– Moderator: Moloud Hajizadeh, journalist
The event will be in English, and will be streamed on PEN Norway’s Facebook page.
