Iranian filmmaker Keywan Karimi, from Iran’s Kurdish minority, began serving his prison sentence on 23 November. Although he had never received an official written summons, the Office for the Implementation of Sentences had repeatedly telephoned him since February 2016, ordering him to present himself to Tehran’s Evin Prison to begin serving his sentence. The authorities have also told him that they intend to implement his flogging sentence of 223 lashes.
- Please write immediately in Persian, English, Arabic, French, Spanish, or your own language: Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Keywan Karimi as he is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and association;
- Calling on them, in the meantime, to provide him with regular access to his family and lawyer of his own choosing and to provide him with any medical care he may require;
- Urging them to abolish flogging sentences, as they violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international law;
- Urging them to end their crackdown on artistic expression and protect the rights to privacy, and freedom of expression and association, which are enshrined in Articles 17, 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.
Click here for the ENTIRE URGENT ACTION.
