Around 180 Iranian political and civic activists, university professors, writers and journalists have issued a statement to condemn the attempted kidnapping of Masih Alinejad, an American-Iranian journalist and activist in New York.

The statement called the plot, exposed by a federal indictment filed in NY last week, an “act of terrorism”. “We defend the freedom of speech and the right to political and human rights activism of Masih Alinejad and other critics, analysts and activists in exile,” the signatories said.

The statement also said that the Islamic Republic has engaged in “Terror and kidnapping” abroad since its inception in 1979.

Alinejad, a journalist who left Iran more than a decade ago, lives in Brooklyn, NY and is believed to be one of the most effective critics of the Islamic Republic, exposing human rights violations and defending the rights of women against compulsory hijab.

The signatories of statement, including mothers of protesters and dissidents killed by the authorities, said that the international community should show a united response to the Islamic Republic for the plot in New York. The protection of other lives depends on a decisive and clear response, they said.

The statement concludes by warning the international community that “terrorist behavior” by the Iranian government not only endangers Iranians but citizens of other countries.

Source » iranintl