11/29/2022
We recently received word that Iranian poet and activist Ali Asadollahi has been imprisoned without cause by Islamic Republic guards. Roanoke Review published Ali’s poetry and interviewed him in 2020, we stand with him and his family, and we call for his release.
Armed guards entered Ali's home by force on November 21, 2022. They confiscated his electronics and then went to his work to do the same. There were no charges against Ali at the time, and a week later, his family has still not been informed what the charges against him are.
Ali has dedicated his life to fighting for the freedom of all Iranian people to express themselves. For that act, he was imprisoned and his life is in danger.
As he said in his interview, “Under a totalitarian state, poetry is a form of resistance. By writing poetry, I say to those who want to kill other people's voices and imagination through oppression, ex*****on, and threats: I am alive, and as long as I am alive, I will not let anyone stop me from dreaming and hoping. I write to both calm myself, tussle with the darkness of night, and pledge the inevitable daylight.”
Please help us spread Ali’s story and call for his release. Repost and share.
