Dozens of Iranian cultural and art activists living outside the country have condemned a recent wave of arrests in Iran whose targets have included three filmmakers and a political activist, and accused officials and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of colluding "against the people."
The 140 signatories to the July 15 statement call for the detainees' release and an end to repression.
"In order to prevent the creation of an atmosphere of intimidation and fear in the society and to prevent the silencing of basic and principled criticisms and protests against the behavior and policies of the Islamic government, we support all political activists and civil activists inside the country," the statement said.
The signatories include singers, authors, journalists, composers, and filmmakers.
Recent arrests in Iran of prominent activists and filmmakers have been met with widespread international criticism.
SEE ALSO: The Farda Briefing: Iranian Women Defiant Against Hijab PolicingThe U.S. State Department, Human Rights Watch, the Iranian Writers' Association, and multiple European film and art festivals have condemned the government over the detentions.
The activists' statement on July 15 said that amid a critical situation inside the country "multiple security institutions and the main decision-makers of the regime at the top levels of the government, following the direct will of Ali Khamenei, have openly fought against the people."
They emphasized "the right to freedom of criticism by any individual or any political and civil group, as well as support for holding strikes, protests and demonstrations of all classes of people."
They singled out the imprisonment of activists Mohammad Rasulof, Mostafa Al-Ahmad, and Jafar Panahi and demanded their "unconditional release as soon as possible."
Panahi is among more than 300 Iranian filmmakers and cultural activists who issued a statement on July 9 condemning the arrests of Rasulof and Ahmad.
Rasulof and Ahmad had joined a group of Iranian filmmakers in publishing an open letter calling on Iran's security forces to "lay down their arms" in the face of outrage over alleged "corruption, theft, inefficiency, and repression" following a violent crackdown against those protesting a building collapse in the southwestern city of Abadan that killed 41 people in May.
More than 100 Iranian filmmakers backed the statement, which said that soldiers "have turned into the people's oppressors.”