Reposted from Art for Amnesty Facebook post
October 15, 2015
Forced Confessions Used as Primary Evidence in Convictions
A Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced the poets
Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi to 9 years and 6 months and 99
lashes, and 11 years and 99 lashes, respectively, on charges of
“insulting the sacred” for the social criticism expressed in their
poetry.
The flogging sentences were a result of the charge of “illegitimate
sexual relationship short of adultery,” for shaking hands with strangers
(a person of the opposite sex who is not one’s immediate kin or
spouse), according to Amir Raeesian, the lawyer representing Ms.
Ekhtesari and Mr. Moosavi, who spoke with the International Campaign for
Human Rights in Iran.
“These sentences show that repression in Iran is intensifying,” said
Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human
Rights in Iran. “Hardliners aren’t just going after political activists,
they are determined to stamp out any social or cultural expression with
which they disagree.”
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