January 22-2016
Two Iranian poets facing lashings as well as prison sentences have fled Iran, one of the writers said Monday.
Fatemeh Ekhtesari and Mehdi Mousavi had been among the large number of journalists, writers and dissidents swept up by the government in the crackdown that is routinely launched before Majlis elections.
Ekhtesari, a practicing obstetrician, told The Associated Press Monday that both she and Mousavi, a trained doctor who teaches literature and poetry, escaped from Iran in recent days and made it to another country. She declined to name the country out of continuing concerns about their safety.
Ekhtesari faced an 11-1/2-year prison sentence, while Mousavi faced nine years on charges ranging from propaganda against the state to “insulting sanctities.”
Each also was sentenced to 99 lashes for shaking hands with members of the opposite sex when they were given awards at an event in Europe.
Both are self-described “postmodern Ghazal” poets who seek to revive the traditional Persian love sonnet by applying it to contemporary political and social issues.
