The International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) today expressed deep concern about the whereabouts of Niels Kroghsgaard,
a Danish journalism student, who went missing on Wednesday in Tehran. Witness reports say he was arrested by government security forces
during the demonstrations marking the 30th anniversary of the
storming of the US embassy in Tehran.
Three Iranian
journalists, Farhad Fooladi,
Behnam Nikzad, and Nafiseh Zare Kohan are also reported arrested.
"We are deeply concerned about
Kroghsgaard and the three Iranian
journalists," said Aidan
White, IFJ General Secretary. "We call on the authorities to
identify their whereabouts and to release them immediately."
Niels Kroghsgaard is a Danish
student of journalism who was in Tehran
to prepare a media project for his graduation. He is also a member of the
student section of the Danish Union of Journalists.
"I firmly demand the Iranian authorities to release the arrested
journalists, and from the Danish Union we will do all what's needed to get
Kroghsgaard released and back to Denmark,"
said Mogens Blicher Bjerregar, President of the Danish Union of Journalists.
Farhad Fooladi, Iranian journalist working for French News Agency, Behnam Nikzad, freelance journalist for a news
website in Tabriz
city, and Nafiseh Zare Kohan freelance journalist are also all believed to have
been arrested while covering the demonstrations.
The IFJ and its affiliates recently
launched an appeal to the authorities to protest against over forty Iranian journalists who were arrested during the
demonstrations in June and July, at least twenty of whom are still being held.
The IFJ is also demanding the re-opening of the offices of its affiliate, the
Association of Iranian Journalists,
closed by the General Prosecutor on the 5th August.
http://mena.ifj.org/en/pages/campaigns-mena
For
more information contact the IFJ at
+32 2 235 2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists
in 123 countries worldwide
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- IFJ Concerned for Safety of Danish Journalism Student in Iran