Afshin Ellian (born 27 February 1966 in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
) is an
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian-
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
professor of law,
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, and
critic of political Islam. He is an expert in
international public law and
philosophy of law
Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...
.
Biography
In 1989, Ellian came to the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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as a political
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. .
Having experienced first-hand the Islamic theocratic government of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, he writes often about how such issues are affecting the world in general and the
Netherlands
)
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
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, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in particular. Due to threats on his life tied to such criticism, he is currently heavily guarded.
Ellian grew up in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. As a youngster, he learned the profession of journalism with one of the most prominent journalists of Iran. He was a freelance journalist for Iranian political magazines aimed at youth. During the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
1978-1979 he became, like many youngsters of his age, a supporter of the
Fedayan-e Khalq-e Iran. After the revolution, however, there came a split in this party. Many followers become adherents of either the majority branch of this party or supporters of the
Tudeh Party of Iran
The Tudeh Party of Iran ( fa-at, حزب تودۀ ایران, Ḥezb-e Tūde-ye Īrān, lit=Party of the Masses of Iran) is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in i ...
. Ellian became both a member of the Tudeh Party of Iran and active with the Youth Organization of Tudeh Party of Iran. It is worth noting that the Islamic regime prohibited and suppressed all political parties and activities which were not aligned with it after the Revolution. This meant that also Ellian was in danger of being arrested which, hence, led him to go underground and finally to escape the country. He decided to escape to Pakistan.
However, there he still faced extradition back to Iran thus shortly afterwards he fled to Afghanistan where already a community of intellectuals and activists from Iran had gathered. There he met Siavash Kasraie who was also a member of the Tudeh Party of Iran and from whom he learned poetry. Besides he studied medicine for few years in the capital, Kabul.
Slowly on an ideological struggle occurred between him and the leaders of the Tudeh Party in Kabul who were, in Ellian's point of view, Stalinist figures which was reason enough for him and few of his friends to break up with the Tudeh Party of Iran. In the fall of 1987, he decided to seek asylum with the Permanent Representative of the United Nations in Kabul whereupon, in 1989, he was invited to come to the Netherlands and was flown out of the country by the United Nations together with other dissidents who were also in danger.
Ian Buruma
Ian Buruma (born December 28, 1951) is a Dutch writer and editor who lives and works in the United States. In 2017, he became editor of ''The New York Review of Books'', but left the position in September 2018.
Much of his writing has focused on ...
, among others, accuses Ellian of misrepresentation. On the other hand, Ibn Warraq asserts “Buruma gets these basic facts upside down. Ellian never misrepresented his identity or his past, nor did he arrive in the Netherlands under false pretenses”. Spuriousness of such allegations is, for instance, also asserted by others like J. Hoeksma who, as part of the legal staff of the Dutch representation of the UNHCR at the time, also confirms the opposite of the aforementioned allegations. The same grievances have been brought to the fore by, among others, Ellian himself and Frits Bolkestein due to which Buruma was, together with his publisher “Publishing House Penguin”, forced to make many changes and removals in later editions of his book. Other prominent persons defending the truthfulness of Ellian's case include the Nobel Prize winner of Literature Mario Vargas Llosa.
In the Netherlands Ellian started his studies of law at the
Catholic University of Brabant (now the
University of Tilburg
Tilburg University is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands.
Tilburg University has ...
). In 1996, he graduated with a degree in
international public law,
criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
, and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
. He remained in Brabant as a researcher until he found a position with the ''Amsterdam Center for International Law'', of the
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
. He obtained a PhD from the University of Tilburg in 2003, The title of his doctoral dissertation is: "A Investigation into the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa". In this research he focused on the political transition sparked by the South-African Truth and Reconciliation Commission; questions pertaining to both international criminal law and legal philosophy. Central in his research stood the question: “why did the South Africans opt for a tribunal and the possibility of amnesty instead of a criminal tribunal that could try and punish the crimes of the past?”. It is worth to bring to attention for those who are interested in this topic that a further reading on this can be found in a later academic book wherein he has contributed by means of his article titled “Political Transition to a Democratic Regime: The South African Echoes of Forgiveness, Truth Commission and Negotiating Justice”. In his aforementioned research, he concluded that the commission was an acceptable tribunal worthy of international respect. In 2003 he became an associated professor of jurisprudence, and since 2005 he is a full professor at the law faculty of the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
. Since 2012 he is the academic director of the Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law at the law faculty of Leiden.
Ellian was a regular columnist for ''
NRC Handelsblad'', and makes appearances on political discussion programs on Dutch television. Ellian writes articles for the magazine
Elsevier
Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...
but also for international magazines and newspapers such as ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', and ''
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
''.
Following the
2009 Iranian presidential election, Ellian wrote an open letter to
Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, the
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the List of heads of state of Iran, head of state of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, executiv ...
.
The letter was published by German magazine ''
Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', ''Le Monde'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and Dutch newspaper ''
NRC Handelsblad''.
Der Spiegel subtitled the letter "Your Regime Is Finished" (not a direct quote from Ellian), while NRC Handelsblad subtitled it "The children of the revolution will accept the ayatollah's rule no more".
It is inevitable to bear in mind that Afshin Ellian is also a prominent defender of the Freedom of Speech. For the most recent publication reference can be made to the book “The State of Exception and Militant Democracy in a Time of Terror”.
Quotes
*"''The extremists are afraid that if Dutch society becomes a safe haven for an intellectual discussion of political Islam, it will be very dangerous for them''"
[For Public Figures in Netherlands, Terror Becomes a Personal Concern](_blank)
''The Washington Post'', 11 November 2005
*"''Free speech is in danger of being increasingly restricted by invoking “Islamophobia” and “racism”. And some intellectuals have already capitulated. For example, the opera Aisha was called off in Rotterdam in 2001, because the wife of the Prophet was depicted on stage. The production had to be cancelled because a number of actresses felt threatened. Recently a columnist on the national daily NRC Handelsblad, Hasna el Maroudi was forced to abandon her column because of threats of violence from the Moroccan community. What has happened to civil courage? Why do we hear nothing from the publishers, artists, media and colleagues of people who have capitulated about the consequences of this voluntary capitulation?
We should expect civil courage not only from those who are threatened, but also from those around them, their publishers, producers, colleagues, etc.''"
*"''Five years ago, my Afghan sister-in-law emigrated to the United States, where she now works, pays taxes and takes part in public life. If she had turned up in Europe, she would still be undergoing treatment from social workers for her trauma—and she still wouldn't have got a job or won acceptance as a citizen.''"
Islam, America and Europe - Look out, Europe, they say
''The Economist'', 22 June 2006
*In an open letter to Ali Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, the Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the List of heads of state of Iran, head of state of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, executiv ...
:
:''"Excellency, the demonstrations attest that the people of Iran, the children of the revolution, will accept your rule no more. Your regime is no longer able to exercise sovereignty over the Iranian people without the recourse to violence -- extreme violence. I urge you to recognize that Iran is now undeniably at a crossroads: Either the will of the people is accepted and a peaceful transition to democracy is achieved or you plan to respond to these protests by launching a bloodbath, which will cause unprecedented chaos in Iran. Ask yourself: Can a regime, hated and rejected by a huge majority of the population, transform itself into a democratic administration that recognizes the rule of law? Has it ever in history been possible for a political transition to take place peacefully and without the shedding of blood?"''
Bibliography
* ''Brieven van een Pers'' ()
* ''Allah Weet het Niet Beter'' ()
* ''Media en Strafrecht'' (co-author)
* ''Verrijzenis van woorden'' (poetry)
* ''Mensenherfst'' (poetry)
* “Political Islam and the Attack on Religious Freedom”
''Telos''
145 (Winter 2008). New York: Telos Press.
References
External links
Elsevier
host of the duo-blog of Ellian and De Winter.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellian, Afshin
1966 births
Former Muslim critics of Islam
University of Amsterdam faculty
Dutch atheists
Dutch former Shia Muslims
Dutch male poets
20th-century Dutch philosophers
21st-century Dutch philosophers
Iranian atheists
Iranian emigrants to the Netherlands
Iranian former Shia Muslims
20th-century Iranian poets
Living people
Writers from Tehran
Former Muslims turned agnostics or atheists
Dutch critics of Islam
Tilburg University alumni
21st-century Iranian poets