Support the Iranian Writers!

Stockholm, 3 december 2008

The situation in Iran is today more serious than in other countries in which freedom of speech is violated. Censorship has become so extensive during the last two to three years that no term other than cultural eradication is appropriate. The stacks of books that for months and years are collected in the Ministry of Information are proof of this.

So writes the Iranian Writers Union in a message from Teheran in connection with the ten-year anniversary of the murder of two of their members, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pooyandeh, prominent authors who fought for the freedom of speech.

Nasser Zarafshan, honorary member of Swedish Pen and winner of the 2006 Tucholsky Prize, who defended relatives of the murdered writers, had to spend five years in the notorious Evin prison in Teheran. The murders are still unsolved.

Now, with the coming anniversary of this act of violence, the Iranian Writers Union has named December 3rd as the "Day against censorship" and asked all writers in Iran and elsewhere for their support. The Iranian Writers Union is regarded as a threat by those in power, in part because they know that the Union fights not only for the improvement of the writers´ economic conditions but above all to improve the defense of the freedom of speech, and in part because no one has forgotten the past of the Union. The writers have fought for an independent union for 40 years, but continue to be met by threats and accusations of a planned conspiracy against the State.

Writers have never been able to feel safe and secure in Iran, but what is now happening is most disquieting. It is time for the world around to react, time for us to raise our voices against the abominable murders and support the writers in their battle against censorship. We wish to convey our loathing for the murder of writers in Iran, and also our concern because of the increasing violations of the freedom of speech in Iran, where authors, journalists and bloggers are harassed and imprisoned. We condemn the sentensing to jail for 11 years of the Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand and the sentences given the authors Yousef Azizi Banitorf and Yaghoub Yadali.

We demand that an international delegation be sent to Iran to inquire into the murders of the writers and we demand that Iran respect the intenational conventions regarding civil and political rights that Iran has signed.

We support Iranian writers in their fight against censorship and for freedom of speech in Iran.

The powers that be in Iran must become aware that restrictions in the freedom of authors in one country is seen as a restriction on the freedom of all authors.

Björn Linnell, Eugene Schoulgin, Azar Mahloujian, Mats Söderlund, Agneta Lindblom Hulthén, Haideh Daragahi, Arne Ruth, Siv Widerberg, Inger Brattström, Birgitta Öhman, Firat Ceweri, Dan Israel, Kerstin M Lundberg, Lars Hjalmarson, Ana Valdés, Jonas Modig, Maria Modig, Meta Ottosson, Per Wirtén, Maria Ekman, Monica Nagler, Gerald Nagler, Agneta Pleijel, Monica Zak, Helena Sigander, Bengt Söderhäll, Peter Englund, Hédi Fried, Inger Johansson, Lennart Hagerfors, Torbjörn Elensky,Viveca Wessel, Agneta Klingspor, Jan Stolpe, Lars Grahn, Jan Henrik Swahn, Bodil Malmsten, Madeleine Brandin, Carl Tham, Thomas Von Vegesack, Sigrid Combüchen, Anders Bodegård, Gun Qvarzell, Kjell Espmark, Elisabeth Olin, Anneli Jordahl, Terry Carlbom, Marianne Eyre, Håkan Bravinger, Peter Mosskin, Bim Clinell, Håkan A Bengtsson, Svante Weyler, Mats Wingborg, Sven Lindqvist, Kerstin Wixe, Richard Herold, Carina Rydberg, Mikael Löfgren, Faraj Bayrakdar, Madeleine Grive, Christian Reimers, Bahram Rahmani, Shahram Farzanehfar, Hassan Moghaddam, Massood Mafan, Said Afshar, Tomas Tranströmer, Elin Clason, Kerstin Lindqvist, Ali Hassouri, Morteza Saghafian, Hadi Fahimifar, Murat Kuseyri, Fataneh Nikkhakian, Gabriella Håkansson, Mustafa Can, Anne Swärd, Thomas Magnusson, Fataneh Farahani, Naser Zeraati, Mehrdad Darvishpour, Lena Kallenberg, Kristina Ahlinder, Göran Eriksson, Sirvan Sarikaya, Maria Magnusson, Jannike Åhlund, Namdar Nasser, Kjell Holm, Birgitta Wallin, Alireza Shafiei, Behrooz Sheida, Forough Hashembeiky, Bahram Tavakoli, Azar Arfazadeh, Ingmarie Froman, Jesper Bengtsson, Moa Matthis, Jesper Monthán, Jens Orback, Maj Britt Wiggh, Liljana Dufgran, Gunilla Lundgren, Rimma Markova, Anisur Rahman, Stefan Jonsson, Zvonimir Popovic, Sture Källberg, Mahabad Arda, Birgul Ozbaris Arda, Nils Ola Nilsson, Helen Sigeland, Jessica Kempe, Olov Wiström, Suzanne Gottfars, Towe Cha Matre, Göran Sommardal, Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, Stefan Farran-Lee, Loka Enmark, Tobias Berggren, Martin Kaunitz, David Stansvik, Kerstin Hedin Alfvin, Eline Sennerö, Peter Karlsson, Lisa Lindberg, Ingela Bendt, Carl Etzler, Stefan Foconi, Tomas Andersson, Lars Lerin, Maria Herngren, Berith Oxelbeck.