Iran arrests two filmmakers for calling on security forces to end oppression

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Human rights organizations and Iranian activists on Saturday condemned the arrest of two of Iran’s renowned filmmakers on Friday over a petition urging security forces to put down their weapons and to stop oppressing the people. 

Award-winning filmmaker Mohammed Rasoulof and Mostafa al-Ahmad were detained by security forces according to state-run news agency IRNA on Friday, accusing them of having links with counter revolutionaries.

Rasoulof and al-Ahmad were amongst around 100 filmmakers that signed a statement on May 29 calling on the security forces to lay down their arms and stop cracking down on protests in the city of Abadan conducted in the wake of the deadly collapse of a building that left at least 41 people dead a week earlier.

The government and media outlets affiliated to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) started a campaign against the filmmakers and exerted increasing pressure on them to withdraw their signatures.

The Oslo based Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) condemned the arrests and said the government’s action was a “clear violation of freedom of speech and fundamental citizens’ rights.” The organization called on the authorities to free the filmmakers immediately.

Rasoulof, who has campaigned on ending the death penalty in Iran, won the Berlin Golden Bear for “There is no evil” a film which covered the death penalty in Iran.

On Friday, a leading reformist politician Mostafa Tajzade was detained for allegedly acting against national security.

The arrest comes after the appointment of a new IRGC intelligence chief on June 23. Hossein Taeb served in the post for 12 years and his replacement was named as General Mohammad Kazemi. The changes came after a number of IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists were assassinated inside the country.

“The arrest of Tajzade, Rasoulof and al-Ahmad is a sign that the Mohammad Kazemi of IRGC intelligence will tread the same path as Hossein Taeb in cracking down on political and civil activists,” Reza Vaisi, an Iranian journalist who tracks the IRGC and other security forces said on twitter.