Writers' Association Protests the Detention of Three Members

The Iranian Writers' Association protested against the setting of a one billion tomans bail for three of its members and their detention due to their inability to secure this bail. In a statement on Tuesday (January 22), the association mentioned the presence of Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bazjan, members of the board of directors, and Behtash Abtin, an inspector of the Iranian Writers' Association, in Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, where the judge converted the bail of one hundred million tomans for each of them into a one billion tomans bail for each of the three. The Writers' Association stated that this occurred after the judge rejected the lawyers introduced by these three individuals, Nasser Zarafshan and Razieh Zeidi, and said that the 'defendants' could defend themselves. The association declared this judge's decision a 'violation of the rights' of these three individuals and protested their detention and transfer to Evin Prison after their inability to secure the bail. The Iranian Writers' Association further demanded the 'immediate and unconditional release' of its detained members and noted that the case of these three has been 'formally charged twice, with each time the bail conditions being intensified.' According to the report, the first time, the members were charged with 'propaganda against the regime,' and the second time, 'two heavier charges of conspiracy and collusion aimed at acting against national security and encouraging women in the country to corruption and prostitution were added to the previous charge.' The Iranian Writers' Association considered the intensification of the bail while the defendant was present in court and the judge's opposition to the defendant's request for a lawyer as a 'clear violation of the defendant's fundamental rights,' indicating that 'the judge has blatantly disregarded the principle of impartiality.' On August 2 of this year, it was reported that Reza Khandan (Mahabadi) and Keyvan Bazjan appeared in Branch 7 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office and were formally charged. Behtash Abtin, Reza Khandan, and Keyvan Bazjan were summoned in connection with a case opened against them by the Ministry of Intelligence in 2015. It is said that these three members of the Writers' Association are accused of 'propaganda against the regime' and 'publishing an illegal publication.' They were also interrogated due to their activities in the Writers' Association and the publication of 'Free Thought,' the association's internal newsletter. The Iranian Writers' Association was established in 1968 by a number of writers and intellectuals and has been considered the most significant independent and non-governmental organization of writers in Iran in recent decades. Over the past four decades, the Islamic Republic authorities have not allowed this association to operate, and according to one of its previous statements, it has 'always been under attack, repression, and massacre.' Among the pressures exerted by the Iranian government on the Iranian Writers' Association over the past four decades are preventing ceremonies or raiding meetings, repeated summons of association members, 'attempts to murder a group of writers by throwing the bus carrying them into the depths of a valley,' and the murder of several members of the association, including Mohammad Mokhtari and Jafar Pouyandeh.