Iran: IFJ renews its call for the immediate release of all journalists in jail

Fifty-five journalists have been detained in Iran since the beginning of the national protests following the death of Mahsa Amini on 16 September. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges the Iranian authorities to free all journalists and media workers imprisoned and restore the free flow of information in the country.

Women hold up signs depicting the image of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on September 24, 2022. Safin Hamed/AFP

The total number of journalists arrested since the outbreak of the nationwide uprising stands at more than 55 and this figure is getting higher every day. So far, only 22 media workers have been released, all of them on heavy bail and waiting for a court date.

Among them, fewer than five journalists arrested during the protests have a court date while photojournalist Ahmadreza Halabisaz has already been sentenced to five years in prison and barred from leaving the country.

In the meantime, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) issued a statement affirming that their journalists are under heavy pressure from security forces and a lot of them were summoned, interrogated and barred from leaving the country. They include sports correspondents who could not travel to Qatar to report on the World Cup. Until now, four journalists working for ILNA News Agency have been arrested. 

The Iranian newspaper Jahan e Sanaat was banned from 21 November until today 1st of December, after publishing an article about a nine-year old boy killed by security forces during a protest in the city of Izeh, in the Khuzestan Province.  

One week ago, the government press supervisory board issued a warning to print media, with threats of legal action if they were not careful about publishing information related to the “hijab”. 

According to the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ), an IFJ affiliate, 55 journalists have been arrested since the beginning of the protests. Those detained are:

Journalists in jail since the start of the protests

1- Mrs Yalda Moayeri, freelance news photographer and award-winning photographer, was arrested in Tehran on 21 September.

2- Mrs Nilofar Hamedi, a journalist and reporter at Shargh newspaper, was arrested at her home in Tehran on 22 September 2022.

3- Mr Reza Asadabadi, a labour journalist at ILNA news agency, was arrested on 23 November in his house.

4- Mrs Elahe Mohammadi, a journalist and reporter at Hammihan newspaper, was arrested on 23 September at her home in Tehran.

5- Mr Adel Karimi, Photojournalist at Haje Kurdistan news website, was arrested on 11 October at his home.

6- Mr Alireza Khoshbakht, a freelance journalist, was arrested on 23 September on the streets of Tehran.

7- Mr Rouholah Nakhaei, a freelance journalist, was arrested on 23 September on the streets of Tehran.

8- Mr Masoud Kordpur, editor- in- chief at Mukrian news agency, was arrested on 22 September on the street of Bukan city.

9- Mr Alireza Jabari Darestani, Journalist at Mehr news agency, was arrested on 25 September in Tehran.

10- Mr Iman Beh Pasand, a freelance journalist, was arrested on 22 September at his home in Tehran.

11- Mrs Vida Rabani, a freelance journalist at Shargh newspaper, was arrested on 24 September at her home in Tehran.

12- Mrs Maliheh Daraki, a freelance photojournalist in Shiraz city, was arrested on 26 October while covering a protest in Abadan city.

13- Mrs Mehrnoush Tafian, a local freelance journalist in Abadan city, was arrested on 28 September in Ahwaz city.

14- Mr Farshid Ghorbanpour, Journalist at Haft Sobh newspaper, was arrested on 25 September in Tehran. 

15 - Mr Arya Jafari, a photojournalist at the ISNA news agency in the Isfahan branch, was arrested on 25 September.

16- Fahimeh Nazari, a journalist at Entekhab news website, was arrested on 13 November in her workplace in Tehran.

17- Mrs Nasrin Hassani, a journalist at Etefaghieh magazine, was arrested on 30 September in Bojnourd city.

18- Mr Ehsan Pirbarnash, a freelance sports journalist and Humor columnist, was arrested on 27 October in Tehran.

19- Mrs Saide Fathi, a freelance Sports journalist, was arrested on 16 October at her home in Tehran.

20- Mr Hossein Esmaeili, a freelance photojournalist in Sabzevar city, was arrested on 12 October.

21- Mrs Marzieh Amiri, a journalist at Shargh newspaper, was arrested on 31 October.

22- Mr Yaghma Fakhshami, a freelance journalist, was arrested after being summoned to the Intelligence Ministry on 2 November.

23- Mrs Nazila Maroofian, a journalist at the Dideban Iran website and Rouydad24 website, was arrested on 30 October in Tehran.

24- Mr Mahdi Amirpour, a sports journalist, was arrested on 27 November at his home by the Ministry of Intelligence.

25- Mrs Farzaneh Yahya Abadi, a local freelance journalist in Abadan city, was arrested at  her workplace on 19 October.

26- Mr Omid Tahan Bidhendi, a freelance journalist and former reporter for Mehr news agency, was arrested on 4 October in Tehran.

27- Mrs Farkhondeh Ashoori, a Freelance journalist and former reporter at Fars news, agency was arrested on 17 October in Shiraz city.

28- Mr Hashem Moazen Zadeh, a freelance journalist, was arrested on 23 September in Tehran.

29- Mrs Mandana Sadeghi, a local freelance journalist in Abadan city, was arrested with her husband on 19 October in Abadan.

30- Mrs Maryam Vahidian, a labour area journalist at ILNA news agency, was arrested on 27 November at her birthday party.

31- Mr Sajad Rahmani, a local freelance journalist in Gilan province, was arrested on 29 November.

32- Mrs Nastaran Farokheh, a journalist at Shargh newspaper, was arrested on 27 November in her home.

 

Journalists that were in jail before the start of the protests

33- Mr Keyvan Samimi, veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of Iran Farda magazine, is in jail since 22 November 2021 for his two- year sentence.

34- Mr Khosro Sadeghi Borojeni, a freelance journalist who was detained on 22 July 2020 is serving a five- year jail term.

35- Mr Morteza Haghbaian, a freelance journalist who was arrested on 19 May 2022, has been sentenced to a two-year and six months jail sentence.

36- Mrs Alie Motalebzadeh, a freelance journalist arrested on 12 April 2022,  has been sentenced to three years in prison.

37- Mr Amirabbas Azarmzand, a journalist at Samt, Shargh and Jahan e Sanaat newspaper, is serving a three year and seven months jail sentence he received last year.

 

Journalists were arrested during the protest but released afterwards

1- Mr Khosro Kordpur, a journalist at Mukrian news agency, was arrested on 20 September and released after one week.

2- Mrs Batool Balali, a Kerman Farda news website journalist, was arrested on 22 September and released on bail on 1 October.

3 - Mr Shahram Azmoude, editor-in-chief of Talesh magazine, was arrested on 1 October and released on bail on 3 October.

4 - Mrs Safieh Gharebaghi, a freelance journalist at Zanjan city, was arrested on 1 October and released on bail on 8 October.

5 - Mr Ali Salem, the Shargh newspaper journalist, was arrested on 3 October and released on 21 October.

6 - Mr Alborz Nezami, a journalist at Donaye Eghtesad newspapers, was arrested on 2 October at his home and released one week after that.

7- Mr Ahamd Halabi Saz, a freelance news photographer, was arrested on 25 September but has since been released.

8- Mrs Bahar Aslani, a freelance photographer, was arrested on 26 September and released on bail weeks later.

9- Mrs Fatemeh Rajabi, Haft Sobh newspaper and Boursan website journalist, was arrested on 22 September and released on bail.

10- Mr Fardin Kamangar, a veteran journalist at Sanandaj city, was arrested on 6 October and released on bail.

11- Mr Jabar Dastbaz, a reporter at the Roudav website, was arrested on 25 September and released on bail.

12- Mrs Samira Alinejad, a journalist at the Kerman e No news website, was arrested on 22 September in Sirjan and released on bail.

13- Mrs Maryam Mazrooei, a freelance photojournalist, was arrested on 5 October and released on 7 October.

14- Mr Kianoosh Sanjari, a former VOA journalist, was arrested on 13 November and released on 16 November.

15 - Mr Sivash Soleimani, a veteran journalist at Urmia city, was arrested on 1 October and released on bail one month later.

16- Mr Vahid Shamsoldinnejad, the Arte news channel journalist, was arrested on 28 September and released on 22 November on bail.

17- Mr Navid Jamshidi, editor in chief at Asia news website, was arrested on 24 September and released on 23 November on bail.

18- Mr Pejman Rahbar, editor-in-chief of the Varzesh3 sports website, was arrested on 24 November and released on the same day.

19- Mr Mojtaba Rahimi, a freelance journalist, was arrested on 23 September and released on 23 November on bail.

20- Mr Mohammad Ramezani, a photojournalist at ISNA news agency in Khaf city, was arrested on 12 October and released on bail on 23 October.

21- Mr Saman Ghazali, the freelance environment journalist, was arrested on 25 September in Mahabad city and released on bail on 23 November.

22- Mrs Somayeh Masroor, the Ilna news agency reporter, was arrested on 8 October in Isfahan city and released on bail a couple of days later.

 

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger has expressed his concern for the lives of Iranian journalists in prison. “Once again, we demand the immediate release of all journalists and media workers, who are unfairly detained in Iran for doing their job. We remind the Iranian authorities of their obligation to uphold the fundamental freedom of expression which all Iranian citizens should enjoy, including journalists.

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

Follow the IFJ on TwitterFacebook and Instagram

Subscribe to IFJ News