Newspaper & Mailroom
Worlds Press Groups Protest Against Iranian Arrests
Monday 11. January 2010 - The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have called on the Iranian government to immediately release all jailed journalists and end its crackdown on the media that began after the disputed 2009 election.
In a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, WAN-IFRA, which represents 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, protested against the arrest of at least 11 journalist late last month and the continued detention of more than 20 others.
The recent arrests, which occurred between 27 and 30 December, followed demonstrations arising from the commemoration of the Shiite religious day of Ashura and the death of Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri, an influential cleric and government critic.
Among those arrested were Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, the former editor the Jameeh and Tous newspapers, who was arrested at home by police officers holding a blank arrest warrant, and Emadeddin Baghi, an author, journalist and human rights activist. Both have served several years in jail for criticising the authorities.
“The arrests represent a further intensifying of the governments crackdown on the media since the disputed June 2009 election,” said the letter to President Ahmadinejad.
Among the more than 30 journalists in prison is Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, who was recently awarded the 2010 Golden Pen of Freedom by WAN-IFRA. In August, Mr Zeid-Abadi was sentenced to six years in prison, five years in internal exile in the town of Gonabad and a lifetime writing ban on charges of plotting to overthrow the clerical theocracy with a soft revolution.
The letter called for the release of all jailed journalists and an immediate end to the governments crackdown against the media.
The letter said:
“We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our serious concern at the arrest of at least 11 journalists late last month and the continued detention of more than 20 others.
“According to reports, between 27 and 30 December 2009 at least 11 journalists were arrested, following demonstrations arising from the commemoration of the Shiite religious day of Ashura and the death of Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri, an influential cleric and government critic.
“Among those detained were Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, former editor of several newspapers including Jameeh and Tous, who was reportedly arrested at his Tehran home by police officers holding a blank arrest warrant, and author, journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi. Both have served several years in jail for criticising the authorities.
“Other journalists arrested last week include: Alireza Beheshti Shirazi, editor-in-chief of the defunct daily Kalameh Sabz; Kayvan Mehregan, political editor of the daily Etemad; Reza Tajik and Sam Mahmoudi Sarabi, journalists for Etemad; Badressadat Mofidi, secretary of the Iranian Journalists Association; Nasrin Naziri, a reporter for the Iranian Labour News Agency and Khabar Online; Mostafa Izadi, who worked for the recently banned daily Etemad-e-Melli; journalist Mohammad Javad Saberi; and Syrian reporter Reza al-Basha, who works for state-owned Dubai TV.
“The arrests represent a further intensifying of the governments crackdown on the media since the disputed June 2009 election. At least 30 journalists are currently in detention, including our 2010 Golden Pen of Freedom laureate Ahmad Zeid-Abadi. In August, Mr Zeid-Abadi was sentenced to six years in prison, five years in internal exile in the town of Gonabad and a lifetime writing ban on charges of plotting to overthrow the clerical theocracy with a “soft revolution”.
“We respectfully remind you that imprisoning journalists for carrying out their professional activities constitutes a clear breach of the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.”
“We respectfully call on you to ensure that Mr Zeid-Abadi and all journalists held in detention are immediately released and that the governments crackdown on the media is halted. We also urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of free expression.”
More WAN-IFRA press freedom protests can be found here.
WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the worlds newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.
Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, 11 January 2010 For immediate release
Worlds Press Groups Protest Against Iranian Arrests
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have called on the Iranian government to immediately release all jailed journalists and end its crackdown on the media that began after the disputed 2009 election.
In a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, WAN-IFRA, which represents 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, protested against the arrest of at least 11 journalist late last month and the continued detention of more than 20 others.
The recent arrests, which occurred between 27 and 30 December, followed demonstrations arising from the commemoration of the Shiite religious day of Ashura and the death of Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri, an influential cleric and government critic.
Among those arrested were Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, the former editor the Jameeh and Tous newspapers, who was arrested at home by police officers holding a blank arrest warrant, and Emadeddin Baghi, an author, journalist and human rights activist. Both have served several years in jail for criticising the authorities.
“The arrests represent a further intensifying of the governments crackdown on the media since the disputed June 2009 election,” said the letter to President Ahmadinejad.
Among the more than 30 journalists in prison is Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, who was recently awarded the 2010 Golden Pen of Freedom by WAN-IFRA. In August, Mr Zeid-Abadi was sentenced to six years in prison, five years in internal exile in the town of Gonabad and a lifetime writing ban on charges of plotting to overthrow the clerical theocracy with a soft revolution.
The letter called for the release of all jailed journalists and an immediate end to the governments crackdown against the media.