Filmmaker Keywan Karimi in prison!

1. Keywan Karimi is an Iranian filmmaker with Kurdish origins. He is 31 years old and has directed more than 10 films. Initially he directed short documentaries, but now his work includes documentaries and feature films. He received several prices for his films. His documentary “The Broken Border” was awarded a prize for the best short documentary at the 2013 Beirut International Film Festival. His film “Drum”, a fictional film, was produced in 2016. It was premiered at the competition section of the Venice International Film Festival.

2. In 2012 Keywan Karimi began to produce the film “Writing in the City”. It is a 60 minute long documentary film about Graffiti on the walls in the streets of Tehran. On 14 December 2013 Keywan Karimi was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards. One of the charges against him was  “spreading propaganda against the system” with this film. At the time of these accusations no one had seen the film and only a trailer on YouTube was known to the public.

After Keywan Karimi’s arrest he was brought to Tehran’s Evin prison and was held in solitary confinement for 12 days. One week after his arrest he could briefly call his family. He was not allowed to disclose to his family that he was arrested and he could not speak with a lawyer. He was then released on bail.

3. His trial started on 11 May 2014 and ended on 13 October 2015. Each of the seven hearings only lasted 15 to 20 minutes. His lawyer was present during the hearings but he could not present his defence properly. There were generally many irregularities in his trial and several human rights organisations consider it an unfair trial.

On 13 October 2015 Keywan Karimi was sentenced to six years in prison for “insulting the Islamic sanctities” and 223 lashes for “illicit relations short adultery”. The court saw “illicit relations” in “shaking hands” and “being under one roof” with a woman “who had not covered her head and neck”. In addition he has to pay a fine.

4. Keywan Karimi filed an appeal against this decision on 23 December 2015. In February 2016 he was informed that the appeal court upheld the sentence against him, but suspended five of his six-year punishment for a period of five years. This means that he will have to spend one year in prison. The appeal court also upheld the lashes.

A few days ago Keywan Karimi was  summoned to start his prison sentence on Wednesday, 23 November. He is now required to serve a one-year prison term and it is expected that he will receive the 223 lashes in prison.

5. Please take action for Keywan Karimi. Use social media and other media to spread his story and show your support.

• Supporter in Italy started a while ago a campaign “Writing on the City – Writing for Keywan. Un graffito per Keywan”. They ask people to take photos of Graffitis and share them on Facebook or Twitter. Please join them.
• Tweet for him and use the hashtag #FreeKeywanKarimi.

Write to Iran and ask them to quash this harsh sentence and release him. You can find more information about actions you can take and addresses at the EnglishPen website and the Pen International website. There is also an interview with Keywan Karimi with Times of India from February 2016 which is well worth reading: “Keywan Karimi: I am not scared of the 223 lashes”.