An Arab Poet Arrested in Shadegan
22-May-2016
Category: ethnic minorities
Breathing in Confinement – The Revolutionary Court in Falahieh (Shadegan) arrested Ali Matroodi, Ahwazi Arab poet and sent him to Shiban prison.
According to the report of “Breathing in Confinement”, Ali Mtroodi, 40, son of Hashim, married and father of 3 children, from Falahieh (Shadegan), summoned by the Revolutionary Court of this region, was taken to detention first and then was transferred to Shiban prison in Ahwaz city on Wednesday May 18.
Ali Matroodi was arrested by security forces along with a few poets and cultural activists in commemoration of the Ahwazi Arab poet “Mullah Fazel Skarany” under the pretext of writing Arabic national and identity-seeking poems and Yazlehs (Carols) in the presence of the governor of the state on charges of acting against national security and propaganda against the regime, and after 20 days of detention in Intelligence Office he was released on the bail.
Matroodi moved to Yazd province after being released, to get away from the pressures of Intelligence Office and to find a job and was living in Yazd province.
Last week, his family received a notifying letter from the Revolutionary Court threatening to seize collateral the bail and his home, if he would not present himself to endure his one year imprisonment sentence. After he attended the Revolutionary Court, he was arrested and transferred to Shiban prison (vocational training centers in Ahwaz).
It is said that Mr. Matroodi was not present in any of the proceedings and his verdict is issued in absentia.