Open letter from Kurdish artist Saman Yasin imprisoned in Iran

Saman Yasin, a Kurdish singer and songwriter imprisoned in Iran, has published an open letter from his prison cell to the public, in particular to lawyers and judges. In his letter, Yasin described his severe mental and physical condition in prison and demanded that the court hearing should be made public.

Saman Seydi, alias Saman Yasin, is a Kurdish songwriter, singer and rapper from Kermanshah and a resident of Tehran. He was arrested by security forces at his home on Sunday, 2 October 2022, on charges of supporting anti-regime protests across the country. Human rights organization Hengaw has received a report from 27-year-old rapper and songwriter Saman Yasin, who said he was forced to confess under physical, psychological and drug-related torture. Yasin also stated that he faces the possibility of being transferred to different prisons and that he has been consistently denied access to a private and selected lawyer in his case. The political prisoner requested that his application be submitted in writing to the relevant authorities and asked to be met before the court date.

Stressing the importance of transparency in the court session, Yasin wrote in his letter: “Both domestic and international legal practitioners and journalists should be granted permission to attend this proceeding. I urge that their requests to be present be expeditiously submitted in written form to Judge Salavati as well as to the pertinent court officials”. He concluded his letter by inviting the father of another arrested artist, Toomaj Salehi, to attend the court session scheduled for September: “His son is a respected colleague of mine, who has been incarcerated due to his music and rap.”

Another letter from an Iranian prison came from Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist imprisoned in the infamous Evin prison. In a letter posted on Instagram, Mohammadi reported an increase in physical abuse and beatings of female political prisoners in the prison over the past three months. She linked the increased attacks to the upcoming first anniversary of the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini and the start of nationwide protests on 16 September.