Saiidi Sirjani
Date: 1931-1944
Region: Middle East
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Literature, Print Journalism
Artist: Iranian writer, poet, scholar and journalist Ali Akbar Saiidi Sirjani
Confronting Bodies: Iranian Government, specifically the Iranian Ministry of Security and Intelligence
Dates of Action: 1994
Location: Tehran, Iran
Description of Artwork: In his various writings Saiidi Sirjani - a Iranian scholar, historian, author and political activist - criticized the government Iran and was outspokenly against Islamic fundamentalists.
The Incident: Saiidi Sirjani was arrested on March 14th, 1994 and charged with openly criticizing the government, among other things. A spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Security and Intelligence stated that the arrest was for "drug use, fabrication of alcohol, homosexual activity, contacts with spy networks, and having received money from Western ‘counterrevolutionaries’". There is some evidence that he was killed by Saeed Emami's "Unlished" group in the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Security and Intelligence of Iran. It is believed that Sirjani was murdered in prison for publishing his works outside the country after they are banned in Iran.
Results of Incident: In 1994 imprisoned author and historian Saiidi Sirjani mysteriously died. Suspected to be an assassination, officially, Sirjani died from a heart attack while in a "safe house". The same diagnosis was made for Ahmad Mir Ala’i, a distinguished translator, whose body was found in the streets of Esfahan in 1995.
Source: [wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Akbar_Saidi_Sirjani Wikipedia] and Democracy Frontline blog
