Sentenced to death for a Facebook Post
Petition by Sabri Najafi
Welsberg, Italy
Soheil Arabi is a 30-year-old photographer and blogger with a 5-year-old daughter. In November 2013, Soheil was arrested for posting insulting Facebook comments about Prophet Muhammad and few Iranian politicians. He now faces imminent execution after receiving a death sentence via hanging — just for stating an opinion.
I call on the Iranian authorities to suspend his death penalty in compliance with international human rights laws. Death penalty can be exercised only for the most serious of crimes, but certainly not for an opinion crime.
Soheil was in a poor psychological state when he wrote the comments. And he has publicly apologized for his actions. According to the Islamic law, if a person apologizes for his declarations, the sentence can be reduced to 74 lashes. The Iranian court has repeatedly disregarded his claims despite the fact Soheil has acknowledged his mistakes.
And now, the Iranian security service has started to spread false accusations alleging that Soheil would be in prison for having raped a woman, which is not true. This accusation can be easily dispoved by the condemnation letter.
I spent most of my youth in Iran. I left the country for Italy (where I live now) because I was so frightened by Khomeini’s regime measures. Since then, I have always fought for gender and human rights and for people like Soheil. And I need your help.
Please sign this petition so we can Save Soheil
Sabri Najafi
Letter to
Head of Supreme Court of Iran Hojatoleslam Hossein Karimi
Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamene
Head of the Judiciary, Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sadegh Larijan
