The court dealing with the accusations of Ebrahim Nabavi, satirist and writer was held yesterday November15.

According to Hayate No's journalist, the court was held in the presence of Mr. Mortazavi, the judge and Mr. Tashakori, the public prosecutor who enumerated Nabavi's accusations as 'distribution of lies' for the purpose of producing anxiety in the minds of people, propaganda against the regime, reproaching authorities and calumny…

After hearing his accusations, Nabavi started to defend himself as follows:

"First of all I request their Excellencies the judge and the public prosecutor not to take my assertions seriously.

"I accept the accusation of distribution of lies, but I am ashamed to feel that my pen has ever reproached anybody. I have written my writings under perfect sanity and self-will and all of them have been written under specific conditions and in specific places. Naturally as I consider my power of reasoning much higher than that of the editors and the directors that I had, fortunately I have not listened to them and have not been influenced by them.

I am a writer, before being a political writer; I am a satirist, before being a political satirist; and if there were something in my satires that instead of making people laugh and relish, has made some, although only a few in number, angry, I would never forgive myself as this means that my pen has been undoubtedly devoid of love that is a necessary feature of satire.

I deeply believe that tranquility, step by step movements, gradual reformation and flexibility is the only logical and rational social and political movement in our society. But as I have said and written in one of my writings recently published, due to my wrath originating from certain events, and under the influence of public opinion that is sometimes a fatal poison for the soul of a writer and under the influence of the extremist actions of some friends, I have perhaps shown similar extremist reactions that were capricious. I should say that extremism is fundamentally capricious."

Nabavi regarded the treatment of the prison's authorities and inquisitors agreeable and added: "I have heard that it was said that my writings in the newspapers were written under coercion. This is not true and I refute it.

Regarding the accusation of 'distribution of lies' I confess that this has been my mistake and I don't have anything to say in this respect. Distributing lies and at the same time defending oneself, this is an evidence of 'shamelessness.'

While accepting most cases of my accusations in this respect, I should say that I do not appreciate that a pen for which I have laboriously endeavored to make it powerful and have suffered a lot to enable it to write, should commit any disapprobation."

• "I am not a 2^nd Khordadi writer, I have been writing years before this advent and no doubt I put them on the top of a jar and drank its water when thirsty or send them accidentally to my departed beloved aunt. After 2^nd Khordad, only the suitable conditions for publication was provided, nonetheless I would have been creating more or less the same pieces. Neither do I feel any necessity to write politically, nor do I like it.

• I defend myself. I defend my lawyer too.

• More than honoring my political esteem, if I have any, I honor my literary status.

• I always fainted in the direction of the President and fainting in the direction of the President, no doubt is not too bad. After all, the President should sometime have somebody to faint in his direction. But between ourselves, no body has ever pulled Mr. Khatami's leg as much as we have.

• Finally, Mr. Seid Ebrahim Nabavi was imprisoned and unfortunately for the second time. One of the reasons for going to jail for the second time, was the fact that I asked my beloved inquisitor, interrogating me the first time in 1998, to give me a prison's suit so that I would always keep it at home and would be careful not to go to jail again. But referring to the law and regulations of the prison, he turned down my request, therefore I should hereby assert that I am not alone guilty for getting imprisoned.
• For God's sake, please tell me, is 'shamelessness' such a reproach? that three honorable MPs should desert all their businesses in life for one and half years to pursue their indictment against me?

-- Translated for payvand.com by Roya Monajem, royamonajem@gmail.com