Kianoush Sanjari, political activist, committed suicide in protest against arrests in Iran

Kianoush Sanjari, a journalist and political activist, committed suicide in protest against the multiple summons and arrests of himself and other political activists. A relative of Mr. Sanjari confirmed this news to Radio Farda on Wednesday evening, November 23, and several civil and political activists have also reported it. Kianoush Sanjari had lived in the United States for years and was a collaborator with the Persian section of the Voice of America television network. In 2016, when he returned to Tehran to take care of his elderly mother, he was repeatedly summoned and arrested by the security and intelligence agencies of the Islamic Republic. Hours before his suicide, he announced his decision to end his life in protest against the arrests through messages on X (formerly Twitter). Mr. Sanjari stated early Wednesday that if by 7 AM today, "Fatemeh Sepahri, Nasrin Shakeri, Tomaj Salehi, and Arasham Razai are not released from prison and their release is not published on the judiciary's news site, I will end my life in protest against the dictatorship of Khamenei and his associates." In one of these messages, he emphasized: "No one should be imprisoned for expressing their opinions. Protest is the right of every Iranian citizen. My life will end after this tweet, but let us not forget that we have given and will give our lives for the love of life, not death. I hope that one day Iranians will awaken and overcome slavery." In another message, he said: "I owe my life to a homeland where I can only think of living, not of the homeland." Some political and social activists confirmed Mr. Sanjari's suicide by posting messages on social media. Kianoush Sanjari was born in 1982 in Tehran. He engaged in student activities at a very young age and emigrated abroad after several arrests in Iran. Mr. Sanjari first went to Norway in the 2000s and then moved to the United States. During his stay in the United States, he worked as a journalist for the Voice of America for a while, but in 2016, he returned to Tehran to take care of his elderly mother and was arrested again and sentenced to prison. After serving three years of his sentence, he was released. After his release in August 2021, this journalist revealed that judicial and security officials had forcibly hospitalized him in a psychiatric hospital in addition to his prison sentence and that he had endured "9 times of being anesthetized and forced treatment with electric shock in the hospital." He also mentioned that while he had returned to Iran to care for his elderly mother, he was interrogated for a long time in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which belongs to the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Revolutionary Court issued an 11-year prison sentence for him in "three minutes". After serving three years in prison, he was released. Kianoush Sanjari, who had repeatedly faced conditions of being pursued, arrested, and imprisoned, spoke three years ago in an interview with Radio Farda about the abuses and tortures he had experienced and the behaviors of prison officials, including sending prisoners to psychiatric centers, saying: "Aminabad was the peak of cruelty." In another interview with Radio Farda related to the presidential election on July 8 this year, he stated that he would not participate in that election and added that the proposition that "not voting is a vote for hardliners" is incorrect. If you are thinking about suicide, please contact the social emergency service at 123 or counseling centers.