Resignation of a Member of the Legal Committee of the House of Cinema: I Consider the Current Approach Contrary to Human Dignity and Human Rights

Mehdi Kouhian, a member of the "Legal and Judicial Support Committee of the House of Cinema," announced his resignation through a statement. In a note published on social media, he wrote: "I do not want to auction my little cultural reputation in this dangerous game, at least until a space for logical, legal, and rational dialogue is created." Concurrently with the issuance of sentences by the judiciary, including imprisonment, mandatory visits to "psychotherapy centers," and bans on social media activities and "exit bans" for some cinema figures, Mehdi Kouhian protested against the adopted approach and resigned from his position. According to him, the actions of government institutions in the past month contradict their previous claims of dialogue and are against national security and interests and contrary to human dignity. With the onset of nationwide protests in Iran last year and the participation of several artists in the protests, which led to the arrest of some of them, a committee called the "Legal and Judicial Support Committee for Filmmakers" was formed in the House of Cinema to follow up on the legal status of filmmakers and artists. Now, with the intensification of the issuance of "strange sentences" by the judiciary against protesting artists, Mehdi Kouhian, one of the committee members who was also active in information dissemination, decided to resign. In part of his "temporary resignation" statement, Kouhian wrote: "For the past ten months, amidst the rightful protests of the people for a better life, I have found mediation to be my social responsibility." He noted that "together with other friends who shared the same concerns and ethos, we tried to keep the door for dialogue with the ruling power open," adding: "However, for nearly a month, I have found the approach taken by the ruling power to be increasingly contradictory to their previous claims of dialogue and not only against national security and interests but also contrary to human dignity and human rights." Kouhian stated that in recent weeks he warned the union officials that "difficult days are ahead" and if no appropriate measures are taken against this "worrisome trend," "the professional reputation of cultural, artistic, and media figures will become a plaything of the new scenario of this rogue group." The resigning member of the Legal and Judicial Support Committee of the House of Cinema wrote that "I do not want to auction my little cultural reputation in this dangerous game, at least until a space for logical, legal, and rational dialogue is created; therefore, I resign from my membership in the Legal and Judicial Support Committee of the House of Cinema until further notice, and this resignation does not mean the cessation of advocacy, mediation, and assistance to affected artists." Pejman Bazghi, the head of the Iranian Actors' Association, also recently criticized the judicial sentences against several female actors and their deprivation of "minimum citizenship rights." He mentioned that the deprivation of "a phone line," "having Instagram," "two years of work prohibition," and "two years of exit ban" are among the examples of "minimum citizenship rights." These statements and reactions came after the recent judicial sentences against several actors opposing mandatory hijab, including Azadeh Samadi, Afsaneh Bayegan, and Leila Bolukhat. A few days ago, Kouhian, following the news of Afsaneh Bayegan's sentence, wrote: "In the ruling issued against Ms. #Afsaneh_Bayegan, in addition to insults, defamation, and humiliation, there is a direct insult to cultural, cinematic, and television officials, implicitly insulting the #House_of_Cinema." In response to Leila Bolukhat's sentence, he sarcastically wrote: "The progress of Branch 1088 of the Criminal Court in issuing heavy and unconventional sentences due to the use of a #hat is exemplary."