Mehdi Mousavi and Fatemeh Ekhtesari Sentenced to Long-Term Imprisonment and Flogging

Mehdi Mousavi and Fatemeh Ekhtesari, poets who have gained fame as postmodern ghazal writers in Iran, have been sentenced to long prison terms of 9 years and 11.5 years, along with 99 lashes, by the Revolutionary Court of Iran. Amir Raeisian, the lawyer for Mr. Mousavi and Ms. Ekhtesari, stated on Tuesday, October 20, in an interview with Radio Farda that he had seen the initial ruling of his clients in Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moghiseh, which indicates their conviction on charges such as 'insulting the sacred.' According to him, this charge led to a 6-year prison sentence for Mehdi Mousavi and a 7-year sentence for Fatemeh Ekhtesari. Additionally, Mr. Mousavi was sentenced to 3 years in prison for 'possessing tear gas,' while Ms. Ekhtesari received 1.5 years for 'propaganda against the regime' and 3 years for 'publishing immoral images on the internet.' Another charge against both poets was 'kissing and shaking hands with non-mahrams,' for which the judge sentenced them to 99 lashes each. However, the lawyer rejects the allegations against Mehdi Mousavi and Fatemeh Ekhtesari, stating that regarding the 'possession of tear gas,' Mr. Mousavi, as a physician, only had a legal spray for self-defense. Mr. Raeisian also mentioned that the charge of 'insulting the sacred' relates to their poetry, most of which has been published with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and none of these poems contain insulting content against the sacred. Mehdi Mousavi also shared the news of these sentences on his Instagram, referring to it as a 'courtless ruling.' He described the charge of 'possessing tear gas' as 'ridiculous,' stating that he has never seen tear gas in his life and that such issues were not discussed during his 40 days of interrogations at the IRGC and even in court. He also noted that the date recorded on the court ruling goes back to July 1 of this year, which was before his last court hearing and the presentation of his defense. The poet ultimately rejected all his charges, stating: 'The issuance of such unjust rulings for the crime of writing poetry and publishing books in my homeland is merely a stain on human consciousness and freedom of expression, and I hope that one day justice will prevail in this land so that no one is sentenced to long-term imprisonment for the crime of writing poetry and being free.' Mehdi Mousavi and Fatemeh Ekhtesari were arrested on December 8, 2013, and were held in Ward 2-A of Evin Prison, under the supervision of the IRGC, until January 13 of the following year. The works of these two poets have often faced censorship in Iran, with some of their books being confiscated after publication, the latest example being the poetry collection 'Selected Happy Poems with Some Souvenir Photos' by Fatemeh Ekhtesari, which was removed from the Tehran Book Fair this year. Their poetic style, referred to as 'postmodern ghazal,' has gained particular fame due to Mehdi Mousavi's poetry workshops.