Iranian Writers' Association Demands Cancellation of Soheil Arabi's Death Sentence

The Iranian Writers' Association on Thursday, December 20, issued a statement calling for the cancellation of the death sentence and the release of Soheil Arabi. Mr. Arabi was sentenced to death in September of this year for writing posts on Facebook. The Iranian Writers' Association, in its statement posted on its Facebook page, noted that Soheil Arabi was sentenced to lashes, imprisonment, and death for 'expressing his views' and wrote: 'Although following the expansion of protests, it has recently been decided that the ruling will be reviewed again by the Supreme Court, this does not diminish the reality of the violation of Soheil Arabi's right to freedom of expression.' This professional organization emphasized that every human being has the right to express their opinions on any subject in any way they wish, and considered the detention of Soheil Arabi a blatant violation of his fundamental right, the right to freedom of expression. The Iranian Writers' Association described the issuance of rulings such as detention and execution as 'not only against the condemned individual but against society' and added: 'These rulings have no other approach than to create fear and self-censorship among the people.' The organization stated that 'without judging the correctness or incorrectness or the goodness or badness of Soheil Arabi's writings, it simply defends his right to freedom of expression without any limitation or exception' and wrote: 'The response to words is with words, not with lashes, imprisonment, and execution.' The issuance of a death sentence for Soheil Arabi has led to protests from human rights organizations. In this regard, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, announced on December 1 that the possibility of pardoning Soheil Arabi is currently not on the table. According to the state news agency IRNA, this judicial official of Iran, responding to a question from a reporter about the possibility of pardoning Soheil Arabi, added: 'Currently, pardon is not on the table, and his ruling has been issued as a corruptor on earth.' Nevertheless, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei noted that a request for retrial has been made regarding Soheil Arabi's death sentence so that his case can be reviewed again. Earlier reports indicated that Mr. Arabi's death sentence was confirmed in Branch 41 of the Supreme Court, presided over by Ali Razini. Soheil Arabi was sentenced to death on September 8 in Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Siamak Modir Khorasani. Nastaran Naeimi, Soheil Arabi's wife, expressed hope that this ruling would be overturned during the retrial process after the news of the confirmation of his death sentence was announced in an interview with Radio Farda. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Arabi had 'eight Facebook pages under different names' and was accused of several charges, including 'insulting the Imams and the Prophet' due to his writings on those pages. Soheil Arabi and his lawyer have denied the accusation of insulting the Prophet. According to this report, Soheil Arabi has repeatedly stated in court that he wrote these posts 'under inappropriate conditions' and is 'regretful,' but 'without regard to these statements,' three judges sentenced him to death and two others sentenced him to imprisonment. Soheil Arabi, 30 years old, married, and the father of a five-year-old child, was arrested last November by agents of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps along with his wife, Nastaran Naeimi. Mrs. Naeimi was released a few hours later. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Arabi is also facing two other cases due to his writings on Facebook, for which rulings have already been finalized. According to this report, he was fined 500,000 tomans and sentenced to 30 lashes in the Special Court for Government Employees for insulting Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, and Gholamali Haddad Adel, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, through his writings on Facebook, and this ruling was confirmed in the appeals court. He was also sentenced to three years in prison in the Islamic Revolutionary Court for insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and 'propaganda against the regime,' which was also confirmed in the appeals court.