Iranian Poets Fateme Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi Sentenced

We were dismayed to hear news of the arrest and sentencing of Iranian poets Fateme Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi, whose earlier arrest we posted about in 2013 (they were subsequently released on bail in January 2014 following international outcry). This time, Ekhtesari and Moosavi have been given harsh sentences including 99 lashes each. PEN International reports:

According to an interview with their lawyer with Radio Farda, both Ekhtesari and Moosavi were convicted of ‘insulting the holy sanctities’, for which they received seven and six year-prison terms respectively. Moosavi was also sentenced to three years in prison for ‘storing tear gas’ and Ekhtesari was sentenced to 18 months for spreading propaganda against the system, and to three years for allegedly publishing indecent images on the internet. Both were sentenced to 99 lashes for ‘illicit relations’.

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports:

Fatemeh Ekhtesari, 31, a post-modern Iranian poet, was sentenced to seven years in prison for “insulting the sacred,” three years for “publishing unauthorized content in cyberspace,” and one-and-a-half years for “propaganda against the state,” totaling eleven years and six months.

Mehdi Moosavi, 41, a physician and a poet well known for his poignant poetry about social issues, was sentenced to six years in prison for “insulting the sacred” and three years for “possession of tear gas at his residence.” The so-called tear gas was the self-defense spray, Mace, for which he had a permit.

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Regarding the charge of “propaganda against the state,” the source told the Campaign that Ekhtesari and five other women had traveled to Sweden to read poetry. “In her ruling it is reflected that she cooperated with Swedish journalists and spies on this trip, and that she had exchanged information and provided negative propaganda about Iran. But none of these are true. The Intelligence Ministry can easily find the names of individuals who attended the festival and research them. None of them were spies.”

As for the charge of “illegitimate sexual relationship short of adultery,” the source said the charges were raised because Ekhtesari shook hands with men at the poetry festival in Sweden. “She said repeatedly that she had made a mistake, and that she never intended to promote corruption and vulgarity. Her conduct was not according to norm, but it was not a crime.”