On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, Keyvan Samimi, the editor of Iran Farda Magazine and a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, was arrested and sent to Semnan Prison after he went to the Judgement Enforcement Unit of Evin Prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, the editor of Iran Farda Magazine Keyvan Samimi was arrested and transferred to Semnan Prison.
Mostafa Nili, Samimi’s lawyer, broke the news on social media: “Today, after office hours, Mr. Samini was called from the Judgement Enforcement Unit Moghaddas and ordered that he should appear there to receive the coroner report. However, upon appearing and receiving the coroner’s report, he was arrested and was transferred to Semnan Prison.”
This new order and arrest stand at odds with a previous order issued considering Samimi’s age and health conditions grounded on Article 533 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
On May 1, 2019, Samimi attended the workers’ protests on the anniversary of Labor Day before Iran’s Parliament. The protest turned violent due to the interference of security forces, leading to his arrest as well as dozens of other protestors. On May 12, 2019, security forces raided and searched the Iran Farda magazine office and confiscated documents and Samimi’s computer. On June 17, 2019, he was released on bail until the end of legal proceedings.
On April 20, 2020, in a trial in absentia, Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced Samimi to three years imprisonment on the charge of “assembly and collusion to act against national security”. The verdict was upheld on appeal but was reduced to two years in a retrial.
Samimi previously served six years in prison in 2009 for questioning the outcome of the disputed 2009 presidential election, participating in the protests, and writing articles critical of the government.
