Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent reformist and Khatami’s deputy interior minister, was arrested for conspiracy. He had criticized the tightening of the (Islamic) dress rules for women. Film directors Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Alahmad are in jail for “fueling the riots.” Converted Christian loses his civil rights for five years.
Tehran () – New repressive measures by the Iranian authorities against dissent and critical voices in the country, from opponents to activists and intellectuals who in recent weeks have joined and propagandized a popular protest campaign. Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent reformist politician and critical voice of the Ayatollahs’ regime, was arrested on charges of conspiracy against state and security agencies. He must also answer for the crime of “publishing false information intended to confuse public opinion.”
Former Deputy Minister of the Interior of former President Mohammad Khatami (at the head of the Islamic Republic from 1997 to 2005), he has already spent seven years in prison between 2009 and 2016. In the course of his political activity, Tajzadeh has not spared criticism and attacks on the leader supreme, the great Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current president Ebrahim Raisi and the clerical establishment. At the same time, the dissident leader has been the promoter of an extensive campaign aimed at democratic change in Iran. A few hours before he was arrested, he posted a message on Twitter in which he criticized the tightening of the rules regarding women’s clothing in accordance with the norms of the Islamic faith.
Due to a different protest, two prominent film directors also ended up in prison: Mohammad Rasoulof, whose works have won numerous awards at the Cannes and Berlin festivals, and Mostafa Alahmad. Both must answer for the charge of “fueling a disturbance”. The two are part of a group of film directors and actors who promoted a protest after the collapse of a 10-story building in the city of Abadan last May, in which more than 40 people died. In the open letter addressed to the security forces, they invited them to lay down their arms and not repress the legitimate protest demonstrations that the collapse of the Metropol office block unleashed.
Meanwhile, the ax of repression continues to fall on the Christian community, especially against newly converted Protestants. Rahmat Rostamipour, a 49-year-old convert from Islam, was “deprived of civil rights” for the next five years for promoting “educational activities contrary to the holy religion of Islam by organizing house churches.” According to Article 18, he will also have to pay 6 million tomans (just over 180 euros, equivalent to one month’s salary) and another 18 million in case of “repetition” of the crime in the next two years, during which his activities will be under surveillance. The sentence was imposed under the nefarious art. Amended 500 of the Penal Code, which allows prosecution for activities or behavior deemed “contrary” to the Muslim faith.
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