The letter was published on Monday, a day after the lawyers for Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi announced that they have received notices to report to prison within five days to begin serving their five-year sentences despite having been pardoned by the Leader.
The letter reads, “We, a group of seasoned journalism teachers, hope that with your favorable order, the execution of these sentences will be halted, and the slight hope that has been created will not turn into despair.”
The letter further emphasizes that the request extends to all imprisoned journalists, noting that “undoubtedly, we and you believe that the place of a writer is not in prison, and a journalist is merely narrating events.”
The signatories of the letter include Ali Akbar Qazizadeh, Hadi Khaniki, Mohammad Mehdi Forghani, Behrouz Behzadi, Bijan Nafisi, and Hassan Namak Doust.
The head of Iran’s reformist front, Azar Mansouri, also called on Sunday for a halt to the journalists’ prison sentences.
The Iranian judiciary has not yet commented on the request.
