Iran: Hellman/Hammett

Human Rights Watch announced that that seven Iranians are among the 45 writers from 22 countries who are receiving the prestigious Hellman/Hammett prize this year.
Every year this award recognizes writers globally who have been victims of political persecution.
This year's recipients are:
Ali Ashraf Darvishian, 65, one of Irans most prominent and prolific post-revolutionary writers, has published more than 20 books, including fiction, children�s stories and a 20-volume collection of Iranian folk tales. For the past four years, government censors have banned the publication of his works.



Shahram Rafizadeh, 34, investigative journalist and blogger, also writes poetry and literary criticism. During the reform era, Rafizadeh was well known for writing about the role of Iranian intelligence agents in the murder of several writers and intellectuals in 1998. He was detained in September 2004 and was held in solitary confinement for 86 days.

Roozbeh Mirebrahimi, 27, worked as an editor and reporter for a number of reformist dailies that have since been shut down by the government. He investigated several high profile human rights cases, including the murder of a Canadian-Iranian photojournalist in 2003. He was detained in September 2004 and held in solitary confinement for 60 days. He has written two books on contemporary Iranian political history that have not received government permission for publication.


Arash Sigarchi, 28, journalist and blogger, started his career in journalism at the age of 15. He was arrested in January 2005 after he reported on human rights violations on his blog. Originally sentenced to 14 years in prison, an appeals court reduced the sentence to three years. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and is receiving treatment outside of prison.


Ali Afshari, 33, political analyst and human rights advocate, was imprisoned in 2000 and held in solitary confinement for 328 days for his role in the student movement. He has written numerous articles and co-authored a book on political theory. When he left Iran in 2005, the Judiciary sentenced him to six years in prison.

Ensafali Hedayat, 41, journalist, has reported extensively on human rights violations in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan. He was arrested in June 2003, spent 74 days in solitary confinement and 18 months in prison. He currently lives in exile and is writing his prison memoirs.




Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir, 29, journalist, has written extensively on the political environment and human rights issues in Iran. He has been arrested several times and spent nearly eight months in Evin prison in 2003. In 2005, he was forced into exile, but continues to report on human rights violations in Iran from abroad.


In Iran there are childoffenders, still on death row.

Children are being hanged to death.
A child will be hanged to death.
Poster amnesty.nl