European parliament MPs sign petition supporting jailed Iranian filmmaker

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Members of the European parliament from various political parties have signed a petition in support of Iranian filmmaker Keywan Karimi, who has been condemned to six years in prison and 223 lashes over his films.

On October 2015 Karimi, a 30-year-old internationally-recognized Kurdish-Iranian filmmaker, was sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran to six years in prison and 223 lashes for "propagating against the ruling system" and "insulting religious sanctities" with his movies and for "illicit relations" for shaking the hand of a woman with whom he is not related.

Stelios Kouloglou, a Greek MP with Syriza and the European United Left, launched last week a petition to support Karimi. Forty-five other MPs co-signed the petition, which was sent today to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to demand the cancellation of Karimi’s punishment within the framework of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which has been ratified by
Iran.

Karimi is a graduate of Tehran University and studied social sciences and communication. He attended filmmaking workshops in Germany, India, Thailand and Russia and received numerous awards for his 2012 short film Broken Border.

"We, members of the European parliament from various political groups, have learned that the Iranian filmmaker Mr. Keywan Karimi was sentenced in October 13, 2015, to six years in prison and 223 lashes. Already in 2013 Karimi was imprisoned in solitary confinement, then released under house arrest surveillance and bail, preventing him thus from leaving the country," read the petition addressed to Rouhani. Rudaw also received a copy of the petition.

"We do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of Iran, but your country has also ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (and the United Nations Covenant-International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966) and this condemnation is in total contradiction with the Charter and therefore the international obligations of your country, both in terms of freedom of expression, as well as in terms of respect for human dignity and the physical and moral integrity of all human beings," read the petition.

It added: "That's why we ask you to act immediately in the exercise of your duties so that this punishment is cancelled. We demand the lifting of all legal constraints and restrictions against Keywan Karimi to ensure his full freedom of movement and freedom of expression in accordance with international law and international conventions ratified by your country."

The case of Karimi has already raised a large wave of international solidarity. Renowned filmmakers of the Association of Authors, Directors and Producers (ARP) such as Costa Gavras, Michel Hazanavicius, Eric Lartigau and Dante Desarthe have joined their forces to support the Iranian filmmaker in his fight for freedom.

Karimi is charged because of his film Writing on the City, a political documentary that traces, through graffiti on the walls of Tehran, the country's history

In a rare telephone conversation with Rudaw on October 18,  Karimi, a native of the Kurdish city of Baneh, rejected the accusations and decried his sentencing.

“I’ve made a film about the government, social conditions, graffiti on the walls and the working class,” Karimi told Rudaw. “It is for people to judge my films. I don’t know why I should be punished like this.”

Karimi’s lawyer, Amir Raisyan, also said that the director has been sentenced for an idea and nothing more.

According to Raisyan, Karimi received the harsh sentence for a scene that he intended to film.

“He wanted to film a scene but because he didn’t reach an agreement with the actress it didn’t happen,” Raisyan told Rudaw. “We told the court that the clip wasn’t produced and you can’t punish someone for something that hasn’t happened.”

The idea for the scene is believed to have been recommended by popular Iranian singer Shahin Najafi.

Raisyan added the court had also used one of Karimi’s previous documentary films titled Diwar (Wall) featuring graffiti against him.

“The film is about the history of wall graffiti and has nothing to do with sacred values or anything,” said Raisyan.