154 Artists and Civil Activists Support Recent Protests in Iran

154 artists and civil and social activists have issued a statement supporting the recent protests in Iran, calling for the unconditional release of prisoners and detainees during the recent unrest. The signatories of this statement noted that the protesters are "demanding fundamental changes" in the country, stating that the motivation for these protests is "livelihood issues, social injustice, ethnic, gender, and religious discrimination, violence, and dogmatism." Among the signatories are Seyed Ali Salehi, Parastoo Farah, Mehrangiz Kar, Mohsen Makmalbaf, Ali Baba-Chahi, Shahrnush Parsipour, Maryam Seyhoon, Reza Alamehzadeh, and Shabnam Tolu'i. The protests against the economic situation and government policies began in Mashhad and several other cities on December 28 but quickly spread to over 100 other cities in Iran, including Tehran, and lasted for more than a week. During these protests, harsh slogans were directed against the leaders and domestic and regional policies of the Islamic Republic, resulting in the arrest of over 3,700 people and the confirmed deaths of at least 22 individuals. The statement from the 154 artists and social activists emphasizes: "We express solidarity with the protesters who have been unjustly accused of labels such as hypocrites, mercenaries, debris, and foreign elements, and in the name of humanity, we demand the fulfillment of all the demonstrators' demands and the unconditional release of prisoners and detainees." While the signatories of this statement have called for the unconditional release of prisoners and detainees, there has been growing concern in recent days regarding the situation of thousands of detainees from the recent protests. Earlier, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, confirmed the news of the death of one of the detainees from the recent protests in Evin prison and warned of the potential for a "second Kahrizak." During the 2009 protests, several detained protesters were killed in the Kahrizak detention center. In this context, more than 50 Iranian professors abroad have called for the release of detained students. The head of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff stated that the deaths in the recent protests are mostly suspicious. Amnesty International has called for an immediate investigation into cases of "suicide" in Iranian prisons.