Iranian poets Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Moosavi have been sentenced to 11.5 years and 9 years in prison respectively for “insulting sanctities” and “propaganda against the state” in their poetry.
In addition, they have been sentenced to 99 lashes for shaking hands with members of the opposite sex who they are not related to, at literary events.
More than one hundred American poets including Robert Pinsky, Claudia Rankine, Billy Collins, John Ashbery, and Tracy K. Smith, have teamed up with PEN American Center to speak about against this harsh punishment. In a joint letter sent to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, they urge Iran to nullify these convictions. Here is an expert from the letter:
We are deeply concerned by the inhumane sentences levied against Ms. Ekhtesari and Mr. Mousavi for the simple act of expressing themselves by creating art. The act of writing poetry is no crime. Freedom of expression, a fundamental right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, allows creativity to flourish and promotes the creation of great literature. Iran has a long and proud literary history. As a poet and a scholar of poetry, we appeal to you not to allow this legacy to be clouded by cruel and unwarranted treatment of these two writers.