Death threats against an Iranian filmmaker in Sweden

Houtan Shirazi, a 27 year old Iranian filmmaker in Sweden, has been threatened with death. He had left Iran some seven months ago, managing to smuggle out his documentary film titled Kargadan.

Kargadan, a documentary on the sexual abuse of Iranian children under the rule of the Shiite Taliban, had been scheduled to run in Guttenberg's International Exile Film Festival.

There is a segment in the film where a boy explains how he was forcefully taken to a mosque and sexually abused by three informers working for the Islamic Republic. In another segment the boy’s mother talks about her appeal to the authorities and being told to keep her mouth shut. In another segment, a group of young men in a village candidly talk about the spread of pedophilia in Iran. In yet another segment, filmed secretly, a member of the Islamic Republic's security forces is shown murdering an Iranian.

Articles in Persian (the website has strict copyright rules; sorry!) :

News of the death threats

Interview with Houtan Shirazi


Houtan has been in contact with Mr. Manouchehr Ganji (look under links) and is now living in an undisclosed location under the protection of Swedish authorities.

The following clip shows the indefatigable Mr. Ganji speaking about Houtan's case on one of the Iranian satellite channels in LA:

Click here