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VOA \u2014 \u201cIt was this black box and nobody talked about it,\u201d Amir Soltani says of Evin Prison. When he was growing up in Tehran, Soltani\u2019s school was directly behind the notorious Iranian prison where journalists, activists and political prisoners are held.<\/p>\n
When several of his friends were imprisoned and later released, they returned with stories of humiliation, flogging, torture and mock executions. \u201cIt kind of shocked me as a child,\u201d Soltani told VOA. \u201cI never understood why Iranians or anybody would want to hurt another like that. And that prison defined my childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>Soltani, author of\u00a0Zahra\u2019s Paradise<\/em>, a graphic novel about the protests following Iran\u2019s contested 2009 election, left Iran in 1980 after the Islamic Revolution. Now based in the U.S., he has dedicated his life to human rights activism.<\/p>\n \u201cThose of us who have some degree of safety and security in the West, or at least in America, it falls on us to use our freedom in intelligent ways for others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At least 15 in prison<\/strong><\/p>\n In Iran, where domestic media are controlled by the state, journalists, writers and activists often face censorship, prosecution and imprisonment. At least 15 journalists were imprisoned in Iran at the end of last year, according to the most recent\u00a0prison census data<\/a>\u00a0from the Committee to Protect Journalists.<\/p>\n Often journalists are charged with national security crimes, which has serious ramifications for press freedom, said Yeganeh Rezaian, a senior researcher for CPJ.<\/p>\n Rezaian has experienced firsthand the risks to Iranian media. In 2014, she was arrested alongside her husband,\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0<\/em>journalist Jason Rezaian, and imprisoned in Evin for 72 days. Her husband was held for 544 days.<\/p>\n \u201cCensorship has expanded beyond just arresting and imprisoning journalists; it has expanded so that journalists are censoring themselves to make sure they stay safe \u2026 and that is a very dangerous approach,\u201d Yeganeh Rezaian told VOA. \u201cThe system has abused its power against journalism so deeply that now it starts from the very, very beginning and it is killing the freedom of expression from its very first step.\u201d<\/p>\n The New York-based CPJ said\u00a0four journalists have died in custody<\/a>\u00a0in Iran since 2003. One was executed and three died under suspicious circumstances or showed signs of beatings and torture.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s mission to the United Nations did not respond to VOA\u2019s request for comment on Friday.<\/p>\n Journalists speak out<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the risks, writers and journalists continue to speak out. Members of the Iranian Writers Association are some of the most vocal.<\/p>\n The IWA was established in 1968 to support freedom of speech and oppose censorship. Iranian authorities banned it in 1981, and since then its members have been targeted with harassment, persecution and threats.<\/p>\n IWA members \u201care the guardians of the word, and they are the guardians of the creative impulses of a civilization, and they’re the face of its culture,\u201d Soltani told VOA. \u201cThe country is awake and it’s alive and it’s vibrant and it has a voice. And that’s what these guys represent.\u201d<\/p>\n PEN America this month awarded its\u00a02021 Barbey Freedom to Write award<\/a>\u00a0to three members of the IWA who were jailed for speaking out.<\/p>\n Keyvan Bajan, a novelist and journalist, was sentenced to prison on national security and propaganda charges in 2019, along with filmmaker Baktash Abtin and literary critic Reza Khandan Mahabadi.<\/p>\n Their convictions relate to activities including circulating newsletters, compiling a book on the history of the writers association and attending memorial services for other members \u2014 activities that Iran\u2019s authorities say are a national security threat.<\/p>\n \u201cThese three writers are emblematic,\u201d said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of free expression at risk programs at PEN America. \u201cAll of these writers have been very involved in opposing censorship, upholding free expression rights and standing up for writers in Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cThey all knew that they would probably be pulled into prison because of this work and they’ve been very steadfast in standing up and continuing to push for these issues amidst a much worsening situation for human rights and free expression,\u201d Karlekar told VOA.<\/p>\n Iran ranks 174th out of 180 countries, with 1 being the freest, on the 2021 World Press Freedom Index. Media watchdog\u00a0Reporters Without Borders<\/a>\u00a0describes Iran as \u201cone of the most oppressive countries\u201d because of its persecution and harassment of journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"PEN](\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/4A00F8CE-8E8E-4F09-BC49-527866A5EE7A_w650_r1_s.png\")
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