Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Writer, translator, and journalist Nader Faturehchi was arrested on the morning of Sunday, August 19, 2018, after he was unable to post the bail set for him during a preliminary hearing.
The hearing took place at Branch 3 of the Court of Precinct 31 of Tehran, where Faturehchi was summoned on defamation charges brought by Mohammad Imami, an investor for the celebrated Shahrzad television series, who himself has been accused of embezzling money from the Ministry of Culture.
Nader’s brother Shahrokh Faturehchi confirmed that the writer will be kept in custody as he did not have the means to post bail.
HRANA had previously reported on Mr Faturehchi’s court summons on April 4th, following a charge pursuant to Imami’s complaint. Branch 3 of Precinct 31 processes information technology and computer-related crimes.
Prior to his detention, Mr Faturehchi posted a note in response to his summons:
“A serious battle with corruption has begun. I’m going to court, coerced to ‘explain myself’ on accounts from someone charged with embezzling funds from the Employees’ Fund of the Ministry of Culture.”
Nader Faturehchi, born in 1977 in Tehran, explores political, artistic, social, and philosophical themes in his writing. He began his journalism career in the Sobh-e Emrooz newspaper and has previously worked with newspapers such as Sharq, Bahar, Aftab-e Emrooz, Dowran-e Emrooz, Bonyan, Towse’e and Sarmayeh. He also collaborates with the Porsesh Institute as a lecturer.