Iranian Writers Association Calls for No Silence Against Government Censorship

On the occasion of "Censorship Resistance Day," the Iranian Writers Association emphasized that it will not cease its struggle against all forms of censorship until the realization of "freedom of thought, expression, and publication." The Iranian Writers Association has designated December 4 as "Censorship Resistance Day" in memory of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, writers who were victims of serial killings. According to a statement released by the association on the evening of December 3, the Islamic Republic has "devastated" literature and art in Iran through actions such as "allocating large budgets to censorship bodies and agents, the rentier economy of publishing, and compiling blacklists of independent writers and publishers." This free speech advocacy group noted that with the consolidation of these policies, "many writers and artists have been deprived of publishing and displaying their works, many books have been confiscated and removed from readers' access, and the scrutiny of thought and intimidation of independent writers has increased significantly." The Iranian Writers Association also emphasized that despite these pressures, "no government has been able to silence the voice of truth and bind freedom and thought forever." Mohammad Mokhtari was killed on December 3, 1998, and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh on December 18 of the same year by agents of the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence. Their murders were part of the elimination of dissenters, known as the "serial killings," which led to the resignation of Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, the then-Minister of Intelligence, and the arrest of Saeed Emami, his deputy, who was identified as the main architect of these murders. Emami died during detention, and his death was declared a suicide. The Iranian Writers Association, while commemorating the memory of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, stated that it "condemns all forms of governmental censorship and calls on all freedom-seeking writers and artists to not remain silent against government censorship until the right to freedom of expression is realized for everyone without any restrictions or exceptions."