May 17, 2019
An Iranian dissident has been sentenced to read three books and transcribe them word-for-word after labeling Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi a despot and calling for national protests to end this rule.
Abulfazl Qadiyani, 74, a founding member of the now-banned Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution (MOIR), has already served several years behind bars for his criticisms of Khamenehi, whom Qadiyani accuses of “betraying the Islamic Revolution’s ideals of freedom and justice through his thirst for power and dictatorial rule.”
The books that Qadiyani has been ordered by Judge Iman Afshari to read are The Story of Winter, by Arab author Saeed Akeff, which praises Khamenehi, The Story of Sistan Province, by Reza Amirkhani, a report on one of Khamenehi’s visits to that province, and How to Identify Your Enemy, by Khamenehi.
The punishment of requiring people to copy texts is often used in Iran’s elementary schools to discipline unruly students.
But the unusual sentence does not save Qadiyani from prison time. He was also sentenced to two years for “insulting the Leader” and one year for “propaganda against the regime.” This is the third time he has been convicted on those two charges, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) reported. The previous convictions were in 2011 and 2012.
Qadiyani was a staunch supporter of the revolutionary regime throughout the years. Radio Farda says he shifted his views and began criticizing Khamenehi after the contested presidential election of 2009.
MOIR, Qadiyani’s political party, was formed in 1979 as a revolutionary group, which evolved over the years into what some call the country’s first Reformist party. One of its best known members was the film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.