Keyvan Samimi

Age: 74

Activism/rights: Journalist

Status: Released on bail

Judicial status: 6 years imprisonment/new case pending

Violations: Press censorship, prolonged solitary confinement, arbitrary arrest and detention, access to lawyer, lack of due process, unfair trial, lack of medical care

Keyvan Samimi is a veteran journalist, editor-in chief of Iran Farda and the President of the Association for the Defence of Iranian Press Freedom. He was previously arrested a day after the 2009 presidential elections and sentenced to six years imprisonment by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of “propaganda against the system and assembly and collusion against national security” on 2 February 2010, which was upheld by Branch 54 of the Court of Appeals. He served his sentence in Evin and Rajai Shahr Prisons before being released on 16 May 2015. He was arrested again on 1 May 2019 at the International Workers Day gathering and released on bail on 17 June 2019. Keyvan was sentenced to five years imprisonment by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on 4 March 2020, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. Following his request for a retrial, he was sentenced to three years on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security.” The sentence was upheld on appeal by Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals on 28 July 2020. Keyvan Samimi was summoned to serve his sentence on 19 August 2020 and was arrested on 7 December 2020 and transferred to Evin Prison. He was transferred from Andarzgah 8 to Ward 209 of Evin Prison on November 11.

Keyvan Samimi was transferred to Karaj Penitentiary on 19 January 2022, from there to Rajai Shahr Prison, briefly to Evin Prison, back to Karaj and finally to Semnan Central Prison on January 29. He was transferred by force and trickery each time, physically harming him. On 1 February, his sentence was temporarily suspended pending a Forensic Medical Organisation ruling on his health. On 18 May, he was summoned for the ruling and was arrested and taken to Semnan Prison. He resisted attempts to transfer him to Evin Prison three times. In September 2022, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said three new cases had been brought against Keyvan since returning to prison. He was acquitted in one, and sentenced to six months imprisonment in absentia for “propaganda” in the second case. He was released from prison on 26 January 2023 after serving his sentence. A new case was brought against him on 8 February. On 20 April, the day before he was due to speak at a two-day online conference titled "Dialogue to Save Iran," he was arrested for participation in event of "stray sects under the support of the Zionist regime." He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for charges of "assembly and collusion against national security" and a year for "propaganda against the system" by Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. According to his lawyer Mostafa Nili, the charges are in relation to time he spent behind bars. He was released on bail in 22 May 2023. He has another case pending in regards to the online event.