Wir sind zutiefst bestürzt über die Nachricht, dass der iranische Dichter Hashem Shaabani am 27.1. hingerichtet worden ist. Shaabani war 31 Jahre alt und Vater eines Kindes. Ihm wurde u.a. “Feindseligkeit gegen Gott” und “Konspiration gegen die staatliche Sicherheit” vorgeworfen. Wir bitten Sie, die Nachricht über dieses entsetzliche Verbrechen in den sozialen Netzwerken zu teilen.

Hintergrund zum Fall (bereitgestellt vom internationalen PEN in englischer Sprache)

Hashem Shaabani was a member of al-Hiwar (dialogue), an Ahwazi Arab organisation which promoted Ahwazi Arab culture and campaigned for the right to mother-tongue education in Iran. The organisation’s meetings were held in public, and Shaabani read his poetry at some of them. The organisation was banned by the Iranian government in May 2005, shortly after wide spread anti-government protests broke out among the Ahwazi Arab community.

Iran’s state-controlled English-language television station, Press TV showed a programme on 13 December 2011 which featured Hashem Sha’bani Amouri and Hadi Rashidi. Hashem Sha’bani was shown admitting that he was a member of the “Popular Resistance” – a group which he said had ties to Saddam Hussein and Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi, the former leaders of Iraq and Libya. Hadi Rashedi was described as “the leader of the military wing of the Popular Resistance” and was seen saying that he had participated in an attack on a house containing four government officials.

In a letter alleged to have been written by Shaabani in prison, he denied having used or advocated violence, said that he had been tortured to make his “confession” and that his three attempts to retract his “confession” in front of a judge were ignored.

PEN International is monitoring the cases of well over 20 writers detained, imprisoned or facing imprisonment in Iran.