Banned Books Week
IRAN
Arzhang Davoodi
poet, documentary-maker
Arzhang Davoodi, author and director of the Parto-e Hekmat Cultural Education Centre in Tehran, is serving a 15-year sentence at Bandar Abbas prison.
Arzhang Davoodi was arrested in October 2003 after helping to make "Forbidden Iran", a television documentary that criticized Iranian authorities.
Detained without formal charges for a year, he was asked to sign a pre-written confession at least three times. He also was kept in solitary confinement at a detention facility where he was severely tortured, resulting in injuries that included a broken shoulder blade, partial deafness, a broken jaw and broken teeth. Arzhang Davoodi has acquired severe health problems because of this, but has been denied access to medical treatment. According to Amnesty International, Arzhang Davoodi is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully expressing his beliefs.
His imprisonment in connection with the production of a television documentary appears to be a clear violation of his right to freedom of expression, a right guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.
Please request thorough investigation of allegations that Arzhang Davoodi has been tortured and seek provision of whatever medical treatment he needs. Call politely for his immediate and unconditional release as a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peaceful expression of his beliefs.
His Excellency
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Head of the Judiciary
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
IRAN
Salutation: Your Excellency
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Fax: 202-965-1073
Salutation: Dear Sir or Madam
Airmail postage abroad: 84¢
