Iranian journalists denounced, this Sunday, the arrest of several colleagues by the Iranian authorities in the context of the protest movement unleashed after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini more than a month ago.
Iran has been the scene of protests since the September 16 death of the young Iranian Kurdish woman, who died three days after being detained in Tehran by morality police for violating the country’s strict dress code, which includes wearing a veil in public.
Dozens of people, mainly protesters but also members of the security forces, were killed during the protests, described as “riots” by the authorities. Hundreds more people, including women, were arrested.
The reformist daily Sazandegi reported today that “more than 20 journalists remain in detention,” especially in Tehran but also in other cities. Several others were summoned by authorities, the newspaper added.
According to local media, more than 300 Iranian journalists and photojournalists signed a statement denouncing the authorities for “arresting colleagues and depriving them of their citizenship rights after the arrests.”
“They were denied access to their lawyers, questioned and charged before appearing in court,” the statement added, calling on authorities to release the journalists.
In a statement published in the Etemad daily, the Tehran Journalists Association described as “illegal” and “in conflict with the freedom” of the press “the security approach” of the journalist profession.
The union was referring to a lengthy report released Friday by the country’s security services on the origins of the protests and alleged “US intervention in recent unrest” in Iran.
In the same document, they accused Westerners of organizing “training courses” for Iranians with the aim of changing power in Iran.
In particular, it accused two journalists, identifying them by the initials of their names, of having received such training and of having “acted as primary sources for foreign media.”
According to local media, the report referred to the journalist Elaheh Mohammadi, of the Sazandegi newspaper, and the photographer Niloufar Hamedi, of the Shargh newspaper, who had helped publicize the case of Mahsa Amini and who had been detained for weeks.
“Our journalist and our newspaper … acted within the scope of their journalistic mission,” Shargh editor Mehdi Rahmanian said, adding that Hamedi was not the first to report on the girl’s death.
The Sazandegi newspaper criticized the intelligence report, adding that “attacking journalists would lead to the destruction of the media.”
Source: TSF
