Edinburgh international book festival director Nick Barley, Hay festival director Peter Florence, 5 x 15 Stories co-director Daisy Leitch and 18 others are dismayed by 10-year sentence given to the arts worker

We write in response to the public statement of the Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili on 13 May regarding the case of Aras Amiri, an arts curator, student and employee at the British Council managing arts programmes to present Iranian contemporary arts and literature in the UK (Report, 14 May).

As artists, arts organisation leaders and academics across the UK and internationally who know Aras through her studies and curatorial work, we are dismayed by this statement and its accompanying 10-year prison sentence.

We recognise that this is a time of intense international pressure on Iran which must be resolved peacefully. However, we reject the claims of this verdict cast upon a generous, caring person who has only worked to enable a better, positive understanding of Iranian literary and artistic heritage. In her role with the British Council, Aras Amiri facilitated Iranian arts exhibitions, theatre performances, music concerts, film seasons and literary publications which respectfully and sensitively made accessible to UK audiences the extraordinary history and achievements of Iranian arts and culture within an international perspective.

We request that the Iranian judiciary revises its decision. We ask that a more reasoned assessment of these charges and whatever is motivating them is dealt with through formal diplomatic channels without targeting Iranian citizens dedicated to the art of their country.

Eeshita Azad Managing director, Bengal Creative Hub, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Nick Barley Director, Edinburgh international book festival

Shehzad Chowdhury Artist and curator, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Peter Florence Director, Hay festival of literature and arts

Prof Peter Hallward Professor of modern European philosophy, Kingston University London

John Hollingworth Director, Brunei Gallery, Soas University of London

Margaret Gold Senior lecturer, London Metropolitan University

Sumbul Khan Curator, Independent Culture for Development, Pakistan

Daisy Leitch Co-director, 5 x 15 Stories, London

Fergus Linehan Director, Edinburgh international festival

Prof Catherine Mallabou Professor of modern European philosophy, Kingston University London

Bill McAlister Former director, ICA and Battersea Arts Centre, London

Prof Peter Osborne Professor of modern European philosophy, Kingston University London

Ra Page Director, Comma Press, Manchester

Abdullah Qureshi Visual artist, Helsinki, Finland

Prof Stella Sandford Professor of modern European philosophy, Kingston University London

Damien Sanville Director, Close-Up Film Centre, London

Madeline Heneghan and Mike Morris Co-Directors, Writing on the Wall festival, Liverpool

Ted Hodgkinson Head of literature and spoken word, Southbank Centre

Donald Shaw Artistic director, Celtic Connections, Glasgow

Pooja Varma Head of programming, Polish Institute, New Delhi, India

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