Having already suffered six years in prison, the authorities have now exiled Ahmad Zeidabadi to Gonabad. This outstanding writer and journalist had already suffered from a different kind of exile and a tough punishment when he was transferred from Evin Prison to Rajaie Shahr Prison in Karaj. Now, according to a verdict reached by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, he has been forced to spend an additional five years in exile and is banned from engaging in political and civil activities for life.

This goes against Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which explicitly states that additional punishment, whether in the form of an exile or a ban, cannot legally exceed two years. This therefore means that judicial officials are duty-bound to review and set right the verdict that was issued for Ahmad Zeidabadi.

What has happened to Ahmad Zeidabadi is a unfortunate reminder that it is not only Iranian prisons that can hold prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, but also that a journalist who has served his entire sentence can also be exiled, and lose the right to express his views and opinions for life. If nothing is done, his mental health and life will also come under threat.

We — the journalists who have signed our names below — point out the legal failings in the verdict that was issued, protest the inaction and indifference of the judicial and security authorities with regard to the threats Ahmad Zeidabadi has faced against his life, and demand immediate action to guarantee his safety.

Shirzad Abdollahi

Mehdi Afroozmanesh

Mohammad Aghazadeh

Ali Akhoondan

Ershad Alijani

Mazdak Alinazari

Maryam Amiri

Afshin Amirshahi

Maryam Amousa

Rasoul Asghari

Reza Ansarirad

Shokoufeh Azar

Lyda Ayaz

Sama Babaee

Maziar Bahari

Arash Bahmani

Youssef Azizi Banitorof

Saeed Barabadi

Sahar Bayati

Farzaneh Bazrpour

Alireza Behnam

Masoud Behnoud

Kamiar Behrang

Behdad Bordbar

Sara Damavandan

Naeimeh Doostdar

Hamid Eslami

Pouyan Fakhraee

Fatemeh Fanaian

Mansoureh Farahani

Mehran Faraji

Soroush Farhadian

Bijan Farhoodi

Farshid Fariabi

Siamak Ghaderi

Mehdi Ghadimi

Mozhgan Ghafari-Shirvan

Sam Ghaffarzadeh

Kambiz Ghafouri

Fereshteh Ghazi

Mahrokh Gholamhosseinpour

Farzin Golpad

Farid Haerinejad

Shahrzad Hemmati

Javad Heydarian

Solmaz Ikdar

Maryam Jafari

Fatemeh Jamalpour

Nasser Karami

Rouzbeh Karimi

Fatemeh Karimkhan

Mohammad Kassaizadeh

Morteza Kazemian

Nahid Kheirabi

Homayoon Kheiri

Nazanin Khosravani

Nikahang Kosar

Saghi Laghaee

Masoud Lavasani

Sam Mahmoodi Sarabi

Hamid Mafi

Roya Maleki

Nazanin Matin-Nia

Reyhaneh Mazaheri

Hanif Mazroui

Ehsan Mehrabi

Dariush Memar

Saber Mohammadi

Mehdi Mohseni

Javad Montazeri

Amir-Hossein Mosala

Mojtaba Najafi

Mana Neyestani

Touka Neyestani

Aida Qajar

Bahram Rafiei

Reza Rafiei

Mohammad Rahbar

Siamak Rahmani

Ali-Asghar Ramezanpour

Firoozeh Ramezanzadeh

Niloofar Rostami

Ardavan Rouzbeh

Leila Saadati

Masoud Safiri

Isa Saharkhiz

Behrooz Samadbeigi

Sonita Sarabpour

Soheil Saraeian

Niusha Saremi

Shadi Shafiei

Saeed Shams

Ali Shirazi

Fariborz Soroush

Alireza Taheri

Mehdi Tajik

Mohammad Tangestani

Delbar Tavakoli

Ali Tehrani

Mani Tehrani

Hamid-Reza Zarifinia