Siamak Pourzand
Pourzand, former manager of a cultural center and frequent cultural commentator, passed away after falling from his apartment balcony; though it is unclear whether he jumped or was pushed.… More
Nasser Zarafshan
Distinguished lawyer and writer Zarafshan was arrested in 2000 after giving a speech alleging that the intelligence services had murdered five intellectuals in 1998. Though a civilian, he was… More
Alaa Mashzoub
On February 2, 2019, Mashzoub was murdered by an anonymous motorcycle gunman in Karbala. Prior to his death, Mashzoub was a vocal critic of Iraqi religious sectarianism and his… More
Ahmad Abdulhusain
On July 25, 2018, the head of the IMN, an Iraqi government holding company, issued an order terminating poet and journalist Abdulhusain as an editor-in-chief following his refusal to… More
Saad Salloum
Writer and coordinator of the Masarat Foundation for Cultural and Media Development, Salloum and others at the Foundation faced death threats throughout 2017-18 from an anonymous Islamist organization. The… More
Lama Khater
An outspoken critic of both the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority, Khater was arrested by Israeli soldiers in July 2018 and sentenced to 13 months in prison for alleged… More
Dareen Tatour
Tatour, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was detained in 2015 for her poetry and social media posts and kept under house arrest for more than two years. She was… More
Hesameddin Farzizadeh
Farzizadeh was arrested in 2013 after writing his book From Islam to Islam, which raises questions about Shi’a Islam. He was convicted of apostasy, which carries the death penalty,… More
Saeed Madani
Sociologist Madani was tried in 2013 on national security charges for involvement with opposition groups. After his 2016 release from prison, he was forced into internal exile. In January… More
Zahra Rahnavard
Rahnavard has been under unofficial house arrest since February 2011 for her and her husband’s political activism in support of anti-government protests and women's rights. No charges have been… More
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