Support Swells for Journalist Detained in Iran
AP – Journalist Maziar Bahari is shown in this undated photo. Bahari, a Canadian citizen, had been detained …
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WASHINGTON, Jul 20 (OneWorld.net) – Over 100 journalists from around the world called on Iran’s government last week to release journalist Maziar Bahari, who has been held without charge for almost a month after being detained amid post-election demonstrations.
What’s the Story?
“This is an important show of solidarity,” said Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship, one of three press freedom groups that compiled a petition for Bahari’s release. “Maziar Bahari has been detained without charge for more than three weeks — and should be released immediately. This distinguished group of reporters, editors, and columnists is standing up for the right of journalists everywhere to do their work without fear of arrest, intimidation, or detention.”
The petition — signed by journalists from 47 different countries — was sent to Iran’s justice minister, Hashemi Shahroudi, urging him to intervene in Bahari’s case.
“We request that [Bahari] be immediately released from custody and be allowed to resume his work. As a journalist, he was engaged in fulfilling his professional duties, reporting on critical events following the elections,” said the Read the petition and the full list of signatories here
petition.
Bahari, a Newsweek correspondent in Tehran, was detained on June 21 along with at least 23 other journalists. Since his arrest, Bahari has been held in an Iranian jail without charge. (See the full story from Index on Censorship below.)
31 Journalists Arrested Since Iran Election
Officials in Tehran have taken extreme measures to control information since supporters of opposition candidates poured into the streets to protest the June 12 election results, which named President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad victor by a landslide.
At least 31 journalists have been imprisoned since June 12 and the government has also jammed broadcast signals, ordered media personnel to leave the country, and censored publications, notes the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Bahari’s arrest occurred amid this crackdown.
The recent detention of six more journalists cements Iran’s standing as “the world’s worst jailer of journalists,” said CPJ last week. Iranian authorities have also taken into custody thousands of protestors backing the three defeated presidential candidates.
“Even before the election, Iran was ranked as the Middle East’s biggest prison for journalists and cyber-dissidents,” notes Reporters Without Borders.
Security officers arrested Bahari on June 21, taking his laptop and several videotapes. He is is believed to be held in Tehran’s Evin prison, where rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have documented cases of torture and abuse.
Prisoners in Iran May Face Abuse
Amnesty International has compiled a list of 368 people who have been arrested in Iran since the contested election. Some have since been released, but many may still face prosecution and abuse during detention, cautioned the human rights watchdog.
Iran’s government has a record of abuse that heightens concern among human rights advocates about the mistreatment of prisoners. Human Rights Watch warns that prisoners may be forced to make false confessions designed to support the idea that the post-election demonstrations were a foreign-backed plan to overthrow the government.
“The Iranian authorities are using prolonged harsh interrogations, beatings, sleep deprivation, and threats of torture to extract false confessions from detainees arrested since the disputed June 12 presidential election,” said Human Rights Watch. Bahari was one of the detainees recently forced to confess on Iranian television.
Crackdown on Press Freedom in Iran
Iran has a long history of harrassing, imprisoning, and torturing journalists for reports deemed by authorities to be critical of the government or of Islam. The Islamic Republic also enforces strict censorship of the Internet by requiring all Web sites to be registered and suppressing online journalists and bloggers. In 2008, the country was ranked 166 out of 173 countries listed in Reporters Without Borders’ annual Press Freedom Index.
Following the rallies against the presidential election results, press freedom in Iran has further deteriorated. Last month, Amnesty International reported “severe restrictions” on freedom of expression — access to the Internet was blocked, Iranian publications were forbidden to publish stories about the protests, and foreign journalists were banned from the streets or expelled from the country.
“In recent days censorship in [Iran] has drastically surpassed already militant controls Iranians have become accustomed to and the media is in crisis,” wrote Iranian journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan, who pledged to continue reporting despite the heightened threat of arrest.
For more background on press freedom and human rights in the country, see OneWorld.net‘s Iran country guide.
This piece was compiled by Brittany Schell.
Iran: 100 Prominent Journalists Call for Release of Maziar Bahari
From: Index on Censorship
7/15/09
More than 100 prominent journalists from 47 countries sent a petition to the Iranian government today calling for the immediate release of Maziar Bahari, Newsweek’s Tehran correspondent, who has been held without charge in an Iranian jail since 21 June.
The petition was sent by fax to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s justice minister, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, in Tehran. With signatures from respected journalists around the world, including Christiane Amanpour, Ahmed Rashid, Mariane Pearl, Adam Michnik, Roberto Saviano and Ali Bulaç, the petition urges the justice minister to intervene in Bahari’s case and see that he is released immediately and allowed to return to work.
Maziar Bahari, 42, was detained in late June along with at least 23 other local and international journalists amid post-election protests. On 30 June, Fars News agency posted an 11-page “confession” from Bahari in which he allegedly blames western media groups for the unrest that followed the election.
The petition was compiled by three international press freedom groups: Index on Censorship, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.
“This is an important show of solidarity,” said Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship. “Maziar Bahari has been detained without charge for more than three weeks — and should be released immediately. This distinguished group of reporters, editors and columnists is standing up for the right of journalists everywhere to do their work without fear of arrest, intimidation or detention.”
“Journalists the world over are standing behind their colleague Maziar Bahari,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “These journalists come from many different countries, and many different perspectives. But they agree on one point: Mazari Bahari is a renowned reporter and filmmaker who was doing his job when he was arrested and detained without charge. He should be released, but at a minimum he is entitled to basic due process, including access to a lawyer.”
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