Abbas Alipour is a photographer from the city of Qazvin who published a critical review of a photography book on a Qazvin-focused website called Voice of Qazvin / Sadaye Qazvin. The review took issue with the book – by one Mr Hazrati, a cultural advisor and a Qazvin governor who oversaw investment for the Qazvin municipality – which was funded by the municipality. Alipour was sentenced to 25 lashes of the whip but this sentence was never enforced.

Alipour was sentenced along with another Qazvini photographer, Khalil Imami, who also criticized Hazrati’s photography book.

Hazrati claimed, in defence of his book, Qazvin: the Land of Times Past, that it was the first published “full-length book” which featured the historical, natural, handicraft and anthropological attractions of the province of Qazvin with 230 images and had descriptions in both Persian and English.

Imami initially criticized the cheap quality of Hazrati’s book in issue 482 of Taban, a weekly publication, in August 2014. Hazrati immediately wrote a response to the criticism and asserted that he had been teaching photography for 37 years.

Abbas Alipour then made similar criticisms in a statement, which included the detail that, given Mr Hazrati’s age, he must have become a professor at the age of 13.

On January 20, 2014, Alipour published his statement on the Qazvin Art weblog with the title: “Not everyone who shaves their face is a Kalendari [like a macho man].” Alipour, like Imami, also criticized the production quality of the book. In the statement, he questioned “Isn’t the poor quality of the aforementioned book, which is supposed to address the dignity of Qazvin’s cultural and historical monuments, not a source of shame?”

He wrote to Hazrati, saying, “Aren’t you a promoter of tourist attractions in Qazvin province, who in the past years has also produced low quality advertising products (such as the book “Qazvin: the Land of Times Past”) and didn’t you also produce such magnificent works before taking charge of the Department of Tourism and the Office of Cultural Heritage? Why aren’t the same privileges available for other photographers in the province so that they can be involved in these initiatives? Have you used these special connections and privileges in all that you do Mr Hazarti?”

This disagreement became so intense that Hazarti decided to respond to his critics, this time not in publications and written messages, but rather in court and with a judge. Branch 102 of the Qazvin General Court sentenced the two Alipour and Imami to a total of 75 lashes of the whip for insulting the Director of Cultural Heritage for Qazvin province.

One of the photographers anonymously wrote on the website, Voice of Qazvin / Sedaye Qazvin, saying “According to the initial judgement of Branch 102 of the General Courts of Qazvin, I have been sentenced to 25 lashes of the whip and the other photographer has also been sentenced to 50 lashes of the whip.”

After the ruling was published online, Hazrati announced that he would withdraw his complaint. However, the two photographers said in an interview that they had not received a notice from the court that the complaint had been withdrawn. In response to this, Hazrati said that he would only retract his complaint when the two photographers publicly apologized for criticizing him.

In April 2014, in a continuation of the dispute, Alireza Khodabkhsh, manager of the Qazvin Today website, published a short text on his personal Facebook page in which he told the story of Hazarti’s accusation. Khodabakhsh spoke in an interview with the Voice of Qazvin / Sadaye Qazvin website a few days after he was informed of the complaint by Hazarti’s lawyer. He said: “Mr Hazrati has filed a complaint concerning a text which was published on the blog Qazvin Art and which criticised his photos.”

The comments and controversy arising from this event caused a wave of protest among social media users. Various photography associations announced that they would form an exceptional meeting to look into the matter. At the same time, 240 Iranian photographers signed an open letter addressed to Hazrati and other Iranian officials. They wrote that, like their two colleagues, they were critical of the Hazrati book and that they were prepared to file a complaint to the Director-General of Cultural Heritage for Qazvin province.

In addition to this, on August 19, 2014, Reporters Without Borders expressed their concern about the two photographer’s sentences and called it a “medieval” judgment.

On September 16, on the invitation of members of a photography publication called Photo Magazine in Qazvin, Hazrati, Imami and Alipour met at the publication’s offices. After several hours of discussion, the two parties decided to dismiss the lawsuit. As such, the sentence of 75 lashes of the whip against Alipour and Imami was never enforced.

Following the agreement, the photographers on both sides went to court on September 18 and September 20 and formally withdrew their complaint with judicial authorities. The matter was resolved.

Hazrati was appointed Director-General of Qazvin’s Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism on August 4, 2014. In January 2015, Hazrati and two of his deputies were arrested. In an interview, the Attorney General of Qazvin stated that he and his deputies were charged with embezzlement, bribery, disruption and collusion in state transactions, forging government documents and undermining public and state law.