Campaign to Free Bahman Ahmadi Amouee: Spotlight on Iranian Prisoners of Conscience

A group of friends and colleagues of prominent Iranian journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, a prisoner of conscience who has spent almost two years in Evin Prison, have undertaken a campaign to support him through raising public awareness about the conditions of Amouee and other political prisoners, and demand their release. The campaign began by inviting groups and individuals to publish articles about Amouee on his birthday on 22 May.

For the past ten months, Amouee has not been given in-person visitation rights with his wife, Jila Baniyaghoub, a distinguished journalist in her own right. He has also been denied the right to call his 83-year-old mother, who is unable to travel to Tehran from her small town to see him.

Bahman Ahmadi Amouee is one of the most reputable journalists in Iran who wrote articles on the economy for newspapers such as Jame’eh, Toos, Sobh-e Emrooz, Norooz, Shargh, Vaghaye Ettefaghieh, and Sarmayeh during the past 20 years. He has also authored two books.

According to the Campaign to Free Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, his only crime is his journalistic work. The Intelligence Ministry authorities, however, have accused him of “propagating against the regime,” or “acting against national security” for his work. Prior to his arrest, Amouee wrote articles critical of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cabinet. Those articles have been determined as evidence of “insulting to the President” and “propagating against the regime.” His work as editor-in-chief of the website Khordad-e Now has also been used as evidence of “colluding against national security.” One of his charges is publishing a poem by Ferdowsi on Khordad-e Now.

Bahman Ahmadi Amouee is one of the journalists who was arrested in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election. He and his wife, Jila Baniyaghoub were both arrested on 20 June 2009. Branch 54 of Tehran Revolutionary Courts sentenced Amouee to five years in prison.

The Campaign To Free Bahman Ahmadi Amouee will hold programs in several countries on 22 May.

Facebook page of The Campaign to Free Bahman Ahmadi Amouee