Grant IMMEDIATE Asylum to Iranian Film Maker and Activist Mohammad Ghanbari (Majidi), Case number : 11C03864-385

AN OPEN APPEAL FROM MOHAMMAD GHANBARI TO THE UN AND AMENSTY INTERNATIONAL:

I, ‘Mohammad Ghanbari’ also known as ‘Mohammad Majidi’, was born in Tehran in 1985. While a university student majoring in film, I was forced to escape my homeland due to threats on my life, thus abandoning my educational pursuits.

My activities and responsibilities in the realms of human rights and politics since 2006, and the positions held include:
-Secretary of the student branch of ‘Iran National Unity Front’ (the post of Secretary General of the party was held by Mr. Amir Hosein Heshmatsaran, who was assassinated in the winter of 2009).
-Secretary of the ‘Iranian Students Confederation’, Karaj branch.
-Speaker of the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners’ Rights.

I had been employed in the film industry. Due to my endeavors for the cause of equal rights between genders and in the pursuit of democratic reforms, I was repeatedly arrested and tortured. The post- election cleansing campaign implemented by the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guard Corps since 2009 has resulted in an utter lack of security for those actively opposed to the despotic ruling regime in Iran. After the assassination of Mr. Heshmatsaran, I was apprehended and threatened by intelligence agents on several occasions, hence my life was clearly in peril. Most recently in the summer of 2011, after agents of the Intelligence Ministry assailed our home to arrest me, fearing execution I was forced to flee my country.

Due to the threats and torture inflicted by the Intelligence apparatus, I have been afflicted with emotional and psychological illness; I was constantly in a state of fear, anxiety, and depression. I was present alongside Mr. Heshmatsaran’s family to retrieve his remains. Moreover, I was present to retrieve the body of Mr. Hosein Razi, from the National Front, who was laid to rest in winter of 2011.
I never had any intention of seeking asylum, as I do love my country. My expatriation and critical condition are sadly the results of a tyrannical government ruling Iran.

I along with other political and human rights activists in Iran did not expect guests when we heard a knock at the door. We lived in constant fear. When we left the house our families worried for our safe return, fearful they might never see us again as we were subject to violent assaults by government thugs. Although I am presently in Turkey, Intelligence Ministry agents have assailed my home in Iran and threatened my family.

Several well-known friends of mine and personalities such as Mr. Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Peyman Aref, Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Hojjat Bakhtiari, Manoochehr Mohammadi, Amir Abbas Fakhravar, Afshin Baymani, Arjang Davoodi, Naser Mohammadi, Mohammad Mostafaee, and Ms. Shiva Nazar Ahari, Fereshteh Shirazi, Nazanin Afshin Jam, and many others know me and are aware of my activism.

I am hereby pleading for help from all human rights activists and all who value freedom and equality. If I am forcibly repatriated, I shall be sentenced to death. I am in Turkey at the present, living in dire conditions emotionally and otherwise.
Case number : 11C03864-385
Date of Birth : 21 Sep 1985

Sincerely and Respectfully,
Mohammad Ghanbari (Majidi)
Film Maker and Human Rights Activist