Bahman Ahmadi Amouee ( fa, بهمن احمدی امویی; born ) is an Iranian journalist. He served as an editor at the pro-reform business daily ''

Sarmayeh ''Sarmayeh'' ( fa, سرمایه; ) was a daily business newspaper published in Iran until it was banned from publishing by the Iranian government, and several of its reporters and editors were arrested on state security charges in 2009. Journali ...

'' before the paper's 2009 closing and his own imprisonment on state security charges. He is married to fellow journalist

Jila Baniyaghoob Jila Baniyaghoob (or Zhīlā Banī Yaʻqūb, Persian Language, Persian: ژيلا بنى يعقوب ; born 21 August 1970) is an Iranian journalist and women's rights activist. She is the editor-in-chief of the website ''Kanoon Zanan Irani'' ("Foc ...

, who was also imprisoned for her journalistic work.

Background

Amouee is a member of the nomadic

Bakhtiari people The Bakhtiari (also spelled Bakhtiyari; fa, بختیاری) are a Lur tribe from Iran. They speak the Bakhtiari dialect of the Luri language. Bakhtiaris primarily inhabit Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari and eastern Khuzestan, Lorestan, Bushehr, a ...

from Southwestern Iran, and spent the first six years of his life in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province. In order that Amouee could attend school, his family moved to

Khuzestan province Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

. He later studied economics at the Babolsar College of Economics and Social Sciences, and then moved into economic journalism. Amouee became an editor at the pro-reform business daily ''

'' and an active critic of the Iranian government's economic policies, calling the nation one of the most corrupt in the world. In 2008, he wrote an article questioning why the government could not account for US$238 billion in oil revenues. In addition to his work with the daily newspaper, he also wrote two books: ''The Political Economy of the Islamic Republic'' and ''How did Islamic Revolutionaries became Technocrats?''

2009 arrest

Beginning in June 2009, Iran saw widespread protests following a disputed election in which President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

was re-elected amid allegations of voter fraud. On the night of 20 June, Amouee and Baniyaghoob were arrested at their home by plainclothes police officers, as part of a general crackdown on journalists. On 4 January 2010, Amouee was sentenced to a

flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

of 32 lashes as well as seven years and four months' imprisonment on charges of "gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security", "spreading propaganda against the system", "disrupting public security" and "insulting the president". The

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...

protested the sentence, calling it "unlawful" and "patently political". In the same month, Baniyaghoob was tried and convicted for "spreading propaganda against the system" and "insulting the president". The court banned her from practicing journalism for thirty years and sentenced her to a year in prison.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

designated both Amouee and Baniyaghoob to be prisoners of conscience, "detained solely for their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression", and called for their immediate release.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

also lobbied for Amouee's release, stating that his imprisonment was a violation of

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

; in 2011, the organization named him a winner of its Hellmann-Hammett award. Amouee is serving his sentence at Evin Prison. On 26 July 2010, he was transferred to

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

, prompting him to begin a hunger strike along with several other jailed journalists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amouee, Bahman Ahmadi Living people 1960s births Iranian journalists Iranian prisoners and detainees People from Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Iran