please help
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Many of you have already heard from me via email about this, but as the situation worsens, I've decided to say something here.
A colleague of mine was arrested in Iran earlier this month. Kian (whose full name I am not using here to keep this google-proof; please don't link directly to this post) is an expert on urban planning and urban sociology, another scholar fascinated by cities and their stories. During the brief acquaintance that developed in the few weeks we interacted earlier this year, I realized we had some mutual friends and mutual interests, and resolved to get to know him better next time he came back to New York.
A few months ago, he was seated at the desk next to mine; now, he's in a solitary cell in Evin Prison in Tehran. He is bring accused of serious crimes; the charges against him are so unfounded, so fantastic that they would be laughable were they not so grave--one is a capital charge.
We are deeply worried about his safety, and are working very hard for his release and those of the other Iranian-American scholars detained in Iran. There is an online campaign at FreeKian.org with a petition on his behalf. Please go and sign it. Please share it with others. It does matter. If you like what I write, if you care about the kind of things I talk about in this space, Kian is someone whose words and work you would enjoy, too.
There is also an online campaign for Dr. Haleh Esfandiari of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a 67-year old grandmother imprisoned and charged with the same crimes as Kian, and a petition here for Ali Shakeri of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding. Please speak out there as well. Thank you so much.
Many of you have already heard from me via email about this, but as the situation worsens, I've decided to say something here.
A colleague of mine was arrested in Iran earlier this month. Kian (whose full name I am not using here to keep this google-proof; please don't link directly to this post) is an expert on urban planning and urban sociology, another scholar fascinated by cities and their stories. During the brief acquaintance that developed in the few weeks we interacted earlier this year, I realized we had some mutual friends and mutual interests, and resolved to get to know him better next time he came back to New York.
A few months ago, he was seated at the desk next to mine; now, he's in a solitary cell in Evin Prison in Tehran. He is bring accused of serious crimes; the charges against him are so unfounded, so fantastic that they would be laughable were they not so grave--one is a capital charge.
We are deeply worried about his safety, and are working very hard for his release and those of the other Iranian-American scholars detained in Iran. There is an online campaign at FreeKian.org with a petition on his behalf. Please go and sign it. Please share it with others. It does matter. If you like what I write, if you care about the kind of things I talk about in this space, Kian is someone whose words and work you would enjoy, too.
There is also an online campaign for Dr. Haleh Esfandiari of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a 67-year old grandmother imprisoned and charged with the same crimes as Kian, and a petition here for Ali Shakeri of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding. Please speak out there as well. Thank you so much.
posted by kitabet at 3:33 PM
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