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Filmmaker Keyvan Karimi Released from Prison
Filmmaker Keyvan Karimi Released from Prison
20 April 2017 by Editor

On April 19, prominent Iranian filmmaker Keyvan Karimi was released from Evin Prison after he became eligible for parole, according to a report by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) [Persian link.]

Karimi, 31, who has a Kurdish background, was sentenced in October 2015 to six years in prison and 223 lashes. Charges against Karimi included “insulting the sacred,” “propaganda against the regime” and “illicit relations” because he shook hands with a woman to whom he was not related. After an international outcry, however, in February 2016 the appeals court reduced his sentence to one year in prison. He started serving his sentence in December 2016.

The charges against Karimi were brought in connection with his documentary about political graffiti in Tehran, Writing on the City. The film, which according to his lawyer had not been publicly screened, looks at how graffiti has changed in Tehran in recent years, particularly in response to political and social events.

Karimi started filmmaking at a young age. He has a degree in media studies from the University of Tehran and has so far produced 12 films, as well as contributing to a number of photography projects.

Some of his films look at the situation for Kurdish people living on the border between Iran and Iraq. One documentary, The Broken Border, was awarded best short documentary at the Beirut International Film Festival in 2013. The film looks at the lives of people affected by the fuel smuggling trade between Iran and Iraq, and about the wildlife in the area.

His prison time might have been rather short but it was not easy. On February 25 he was attacked and beaten by inmates at Evin Prison. Karimi’s attackers were inmates serving time for crimes not connected to political offenses or violations of national security. During the attack, which took place at Evin’s Ward 8, Karimi sustained an injury to his left leg, which had recently undergone surgery for the removal of a tumor.

Prison officials refused to hospitalize Karimi despite the medical opinion of the prison’s own clinic. Karimi’s leg had been operated on 10 years ago to remove a tumor but the doctors, both inside and outside the hospital, determined that he needed another urgent surgery to prevent serious bone marrow diseases.

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