Ovin, Ready for Transport; Mohammad Reza Ali Payam Goes to Prison

Mohammad Reza Ali Payam, a poet and satirist critical of the Islamic Republic known by the pen name 'Halo', announced in a video on his Facebook page that he has been summoned to Evin Prison to serve his sentence. Ali Payam, famous for his humorous and critical poetry, stated in the video that he had previously been tried for the same poems in 2013 and again in 2014, when he told the judge that one cannot be tried twice for the same poem, to which the judge replied that his previous accuser was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and this time it was the 'Security Police'. He further mentioned that he told the judge that next time he might be sued by 'the Qom Seminary, taxi drivers, or the quilt makers' union', but the judge responded, 'That's just how it is.' Ali Payam had previously been arrested on August 19, 2012, by the Security Police and subsequently transferred to Ward 350 of Evin Prison on charges of propaganda against the regime and disturbing public opinion. He was released on September 10, 2012, after posting a bail of 100 million tomans. He is now sentenced to one year, three months, and one day in prison for 'insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran', 'insulting Islamic sanctities', 'insulting religious authorities', and 'insulting the Supreme Leader'. At the end of his short video, Ali Payam recited a poem: 'If laughter is on my lips, but pain is in my heart, I am green inside and yellow on the outside. This canary has been sentenced to a cage, but I will return after one year and three months.' He asks a passing car to take him 'directly' to Evin Prison.