Between August 2 and 12, 2011, four cultural and literary activists were arrested as part of a crackdown in Gilan-e-Gharb in Kermanshah Province. Among them was Sajjad Jahanfar, a Kurdish author and scholar, arrested on August 12, 2011, and held without charge. Jahanfar had not been allowed to contact or see his family while in detention. Others arrested included Jamal Khani, a poet, Farhad Vakilinia, an educator, and Naeem Najafi, a student.

In November 2011, according to a report from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Jahanfar received a one-year prison sentence. He was charged, along with the others arrested, with “acting against national security” through supporting Kurdish opposition groups.

Please send appeals for his release to: