Worldwide readings and screenings
Worldwide Reading for Narges Mohammadi and Political Prisoners and in memory of those were killed in Iran on March 20 th 2026, Nowruz, Persian New Year
We call on libraries, bookstores, universities, schools, cultural and civil society institutions worldwide to participate in a worldwide reading. On January 8 and 9, 2026, Iranian security forces carried out a nationwide massacre of citizens who had taken to the streets to demand democracy and social justice. According to recent research by Time magazine, more than 30,000 people were killed. These figures are considered realistic not only by human rights organizations, but also by the German federal government and other Western governments. And it is to be feared that the actual number of victims is even higher, as there is virtually no news coming out of remote areas. This means that the suppression of the uprising is likely to be the world’s bloodiest massacre of demonstrators in such a short period of time.
Repression has also intensified through the judicial system. Iran remains among the countries with the highest number of executions worldwide; more than 1,000 executions were documented in 2025, and reports from early 2026 indicate that executions continue at a high rate, including cases linked to the recent protests. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, human rights organizations estimate that tens of thousands of people have been executed, including mass executions of political prisoners, most notably in 1988. Systematic repression since 1979 has included widespread imprisonment of political opponents, censorship, persecution of writers, journalists and artists, severe restrictions on women’s rights, and repeated violent crackdowns on protests.
Among those imprisoned is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, journalist and human rights defender, who has been repeatedly arrested and sentenced over many years. In February 2026, she was sentenced to an additional seven and a half years in prison on charges of conspiracy. According to her lawyer, six years of this sentence relate to the accusation of “assembly and collusion to commit crimes.” The sentence further extends her imprisonment despite serious health concerns.
This worldwide reading aims to draw international public attention to the situation of political prisoners in Iran, to the systematic use of the death penalty, and to the victims of the violence of January 2026.
You’re free to choose texts for that. Our suggestions: works by writers murdered in the so-called “chain murders” of 1998, including Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, as well as political writings or letters by Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar. As a central literary text: Hushang Golshiri, The King of the Black-Clad (published under the pseudonym Manouchehr Irani). Additional options include poems by Forugh Farrokhzad, Ahmad Shamlou, or Simin Behbahani, as well as letters or statements by Narges Mohammadi.
Optional film screening (with discussion): Mohammad Rasoulof, There Is No Evil (on the death penalty and individual responsibility) or The Seed of the Sacred Fig (on violence, fear, and loyalty under authoritarian rule).
Format: a public reading on a common date or within a defined period. The event may combine literary readings, a brief presentation of the current situation, and a discussion. After the event, participants are invited to share the place, date, names of contributors, and, if possible, a photo or short report to document worldwide participation.
If you would like to organise a reading, please write to us at: info@bebelplatz.org
Supporters include:
Martin Amanshauser (Austria)
Yuri Andrukhovych (Ukraine)
Verena Auffermann (Germany)
Ayo Ayoola-Amale (Nigeria)
Uziel Awret (Israel)
Mariela Baeva (Bulgaria)
Yahia Belaskri (Algeria/ France)
Vanni Bianconi (Switzerland)
Petr Blazek (Czech Republic)
Lilian Brøgger (Denmark)
Rafael Cardoso (Brazil/ Germany)
Amir Hassan Cheheltan (Iran)
Irene Dische (USA/ Germany)
José Manuel Fajardo (Spain/ Portugal)
Catalin Dorian Florescu (Romania/ Switzerland)
Jan Geurt Gaarlandt (Netherlands)
Anders Heger (Norway)
Nazanine Hozar (Iran/ Canada)
Lucina Kathmann (USA)
Navid Kermani (Germany)
Andrei Kurkov (Ukraine)
Laila Lalami (Morocco/ USA)
Liao Yiwu (China/ Germany)
Ulli Lust (Austria)
Chiara Macconi (Italy)
Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (Iran/ Uganda/ France)
Ramita Navai (Iran/ UK)
David Van Reybrouck (Belgium)
Philippe Sands (UK)
Radhika Santhanam-Martin (Australia)
Amir Or (Israel)
Preeta Samarasan (Malaysia/ USA)
Wolfgang Schiffer (Germany)
Eugene Schoulgin (Norway)
Daniela Sepehri (Iran/ Germany)
Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (India/ USA)
Biljana Srbljanović (Serbia)
George Szirtes (Hungary/ UK)
Janne Teller (Denmark)
Ko Ko Thett (Myanmar/ Finland)
Fariba Vafi (Iran/ Germany)
Haris Vlavianos (Greece)
Joseph Vogl (Germany)
Lyuba Yakimchuk (Ukraine)
Yan Lianke (China)
Yang Lian (China/ UK)
Lila Azam Zanganeh (France/ USA)
Juli Zeh (Germany)
On March 20, 2006 was initiated the “Anniversary of the Political Lie” and “Worldwide Readings” to mark the third anniversary of the Iraq war. These readings now take place once or twice a year, highlighting figures like Edward Snowden, Anna Politkovskaya, and Mahmoud Darwish, and fostering awareness of political communication. Since 2025, Bebelplatz e.V. has coordinated these readings and international screenings.
You can find more information about the worldwide readings here.