HRW – On November 1, Iranian authorities took into custody Arash Ganji, a writer and a translator, and transferred him to prison to serve the five-year sentence he had received in connection with his translation of a book about Kurds in the Syrian civil war. The government alleged that the translation of the book, A Small Key Can Open a Big Door: The Rojava Revolution, poses a threat to national security.
Authorities had arrested Ganji, a board member and former secretary of the Iranian Writer’s Association (IWA), in December 2019. In December 2020, a revolutionary court sentenced him to a total of 11 years in prison: five years for “conspiracy to act against national security,” five years for “membership and cooperation with an anti-regime group,” and one year for “propaganda against the regime.” An appeals court upheld the charges in February 2021. Under Iran’s criminal procedure he must serve the maximum sentence of the three charges, equal to five years in prison.
Ganji’s prosecution represents a broader trend of targeted attacks on journalists and freedom of expression in Iran, particularly when it involves discussion of Kurdish peoples’ rights. Ganji is the fourth senior member of the IWA to be prosecuted by Iranian authorities since 2019. The IWA, which plays an important role in challenging censorship in Iran, has long been under severe crackdown by officials.
Ganji has serious health issues and requires medical care for a heart condition and deteriorating vision, conditions that may be dangerously worsened in prison. The Iranian authorities should respect the right to freedom of expression, strike down Ganji’s prison sentence for translating a book, and cease criminalizing the work of journalists and writers.