PEN welcomes news of the release of prominent Iranian journalist and writer Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, who was released on May 12, 2017. Kabudvand was serving a 10-year prison sentence on charges which PEN considered to be politically motivated. PEN continues to call for the release of all writers, journalists, and publishers who are unfairly imprisoned in Iran in violation of their right to freedom of expression and opinion.

TAKE ACTION

Please send appeals:

  • Welcoming the release of prominent Iranian journalist and writer Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand;
  • Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all writers, journalists, and publishers who are held in violation of their right to freedom of expression and opinion;
  • Ensure that the right to freedom of expression in Iran is fully respected in law and practice as provided for under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.

Appeals to:

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Grand Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street—End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email
Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English-language account), @Khamenei_ar (Arabic-language), @Khamenei_es (Spanish-language account).

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, Deadend of 1 Azizi – Vali Asr Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian)
And copy to the Embassy of Iran in your country. You can find embassy addresses here.

***Check with PEN if sending appeals after June 15, 2017. ***
Please inform PEN of any action you take, and of any responses you receive

Background

Kabudvand is an Honorary Member of Austrian PEN, PEN Català, Swedish PEN, and Sydney PEN. Kabudvand was an editor of the banned weekly Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan (Kurdistan People’s Message) and co-founder and former chair of the Tehran-based Kurdistan Human Rights Organization (RMMK). He was arrested on July 1, 2007, at his place of work in Tehran by plainclothes security officer. He spent the first five months of his detention in solitary confinement and suffered ill-treatment.

Kabudvand was sentenced at a closed trial on June 22, 2008, to 10 years in prison by the Tehran Revolutionary Court for “acting against national security” for forming a human rights organization in Iran’s Kurdish region and publicizing alleged human rights abuses, and an extra year of imprisonment on charges of “spreading propaganda against the system by disseminating news.” On October 23, 2008, the Tehran Appeal Court upheld his conviction, but reduced the sentence to 10 years in prison. On May 8, 2016, Kabudvand began a hunger strike in protest at his continued imprisonment and the possibility of new charges being brought against him.

To see more about our previous action on Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand please click here.

For any further information, please contact Nael Georges, PEN International, Koops Mill Mews, 162-164 Abbey Street, London SE1 2AN | Tel: +44 (0) 207 405 0338 | Email: [email protected]