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C Committee to ProtectJournalists
Defending Journal is: s Worldwide
As media arrests mount, Iran solidifies a dishonor
New York, July 22, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed the detentions of another four journalists
in Iran. CPJ research shows the continuing arrests have solidified Iran's dishonorable standing as the world's leading
jailer of journalists.
At least 41 journalists are now being hold in Iranian prisons, 35 of whom were jailed in the aftermath of the disputed June
12 presidential election, CPJ research shows. Iran has supplanted China (hftp://cpi.orq/reports/2008/12/cpis-2008-prison-
census-online-and-in-jail.php) as the world's worst jailer of journalists; CPJ's most recent survey found 28 journalists
imprisoned in China (http:llcpi.org/imprisoned/2008.php#china%20% E2%80%8E) .
The Iranian government has responded harshly to those who have challenged the presidential elections results, cracking
down on protests, obstructing local media, and expelling and vilifying (http:Ilcpi.org/2009/06/iran-releases-
some-iournalists-vilifies-foreign-pr.php) foreign journalists. CPJ research shows that local newspapers are regularly
censored (http:Ilcpi.org/2009/07/in-iran-more-newspapers-censored-another-reporter.php) .
Today, CPJ called on the government to immediately release all detained journalists and to halt the obstruction of free
expression. Among those unjustly jailed is Majid Saeedi, a freelance photographer for Getty Images, who has worked in
Iran for years. CPJ posted a slideshow ( http:Ilcpi.org/bloq/2009/07/maiid-saeedi-photos.php) today showing the breadth
and diversity of Saeedi's work.
“Iranian authorities continue to hold dozens of journalists behind bars, the vast majority of them without charge. The
numbers speak for themselves--and the world is taking note. It's an embarrassment for Iran to be the world's worst jailer
of journalists,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. “The authorities
must end their campaign against the media, and they should start by immediately releasing these unjustly detained
journalists.”
Here are capsule reports on the four journalists whose detentions have been newly verified by CPJ. Following
that are capsule reports for the rest of those detained.
Shadi Sadr, Women in Iran
DETAINED: July 17, 2009
Sadr, prominent lawyer, women rights actMst, and journalist, was arrested by plainclothes agents on her way to Friday
sermon on July 17, according to the U.S.-backed Radio Farda. According to the Los Angeles Times, Sadr works as an
editor for the Web site of Women in Iran (http:llwww.womeniniran.com/) , a local women's rights group. Hossein
Nilchan, Sadr's husband, said witnesses saw her forcibly pushed into a car and taken to an unknown location, Radio
Farda reported.
Korosh Javan, freelance photographer
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DETAINED: July 9, 2009
Javan, a freelance photographer, was arrested on July 9, according to multiple local news reports. Additional details
were not immediately available.
Marjan Abollahian , Hamshahri
DETAINED: July 9, 2009
Photo editor Abde lhayn was arrested on July 7, according to the BBC Persian service. She works with the Tehran-based
Hamshaliri newspaper, according to local news reports.
Satyar Emami, photographer
DETAINED: July 9, 2009
Emami, a photographer, was arrested on July 9, journalists told CPJ. The date and circumstances of his arrest is not
available. His Web site (http://satyar.ir/weblog.php) has not been updated since July 8.
Here are capsules reports on other journalists detained following the presidential election on June 12:
Saeed Matin-Pour, Yar Pag and Mouj Bidari
DETAINED: July 12, 2009
A revolutionary court in Tehran convicted Saeed Matin-Pour of having “relations with foreigners and propagating against
the regime,” according to local news reports, and sent him immediately to Evin Prison. Matin-Pour was initially arrested
in May 2007 after he visited Turkey and was released on bail after nine months. The journalist worked for Yar Pag and
Mouj Bidari newspapers in Azerbaijan province, western Iran, in addition to writing his own blog, according to local
( http:llwww.mizanpress.com/index.php?option=com content&view=article&id=2814:2009-07-13-10-58-55&
catid=6: 2009-04-01 - 10-24-33&Itemid=66) news reports.
Majid Saeedi, freelance photographer for Getty Images
DETAINED: July 10, 2009
Security agents arrested Saeedi, a well-known photographer (http://majidsaeedi.com/) with several reformist
newspapers, at his home and took him to an unknown location, according to Getty Images. Jonathan Klein, the photo
agency's CEO, describes Saeedi as a “dedicated photojournalist” who was simply trying to document events in Iran.
Tohid Begi, photographer
DETAINED: July 9, 2009
The photographer for Mashrota News, affiliated with the defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was arrested
by security agents near Inqilab Square in Tehran on July 9, according to news reports.
Kave Muzzafari, blogger
DETAINED: July 9, 2009
Muzzafari, blogger (http://kavemozafari.bloqfa.com/) and women's rights activist, was arrested near his home in Tehran.
He was a supporter of the campaign to collect “ One Million Signatures (http: / /www.siqn4chanqe.info/enqlish
/ spip.php?article55l) ” urging the reform of Iranian laws that discriminate against women. His mother-in-law, who was
with him at the time of his arrest, told the Tehran-based Sign for Change (http://www.sign4change .info
/ spip.php?article43O7) Web site that plainclothes police officers arrested Muzaffari while they were on thier way home
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from a hospital.
Muhammad-Reza Yazdanpana, freelance, blogger
DETAINED: July 7, 2009
Yazdanpana, freelance journalist and blogger for Yazdanpana (http://www.yazdanpanah.com/J , was arrested on the
way home on July 7, according to local news reports. He has worked for several reformists affiliated newspapers such
as Sharq, Karguzaran, and Yas Nu.
Massoud Bastani, Jomhoriyat
DETAINED: July 5, 2009
Bastani, husband of detained journalist Mehamsa Amrabadi, was arrested when he was went to a Tehran court seeking
information about his wife's whereabouts, according to multiple (http:/Iwww.ham mihannews.com/news/4944) local
( http:llparlemannews.com/index.aspx?n=1603) news (http: / /www.mirhusein.net
/ showthread.php?s=96c35d9282f87330a331 dl 01 1735c75c&p=2867#post2867) reports (http://www.qhatreh.com
1news 13616076.html) . He works for Jomhoriyat, a news Web site affiliated with the defeated reformist candidate
Mir-Hossein Mousavi. His wife, Amrabadi, was arrested along with two other journalists on June 15. According to local
and international rights groups Amrabadi, who is pregnant, is being held at Evin Prison.
Issa Sahar-Khiz, freelance
DETAINED: July 3, 2009
Sahar-Khiz, a freelance journalist and founding member of the Association of Iranian Journalists, was arrested while
traveling in north of Iran, the Association said (http://rooznamenegar.ir/main.php?t=5&id=1075) in a statement. It also
reported that the family has been informed of the arrest by phone. Sahar-Khiz is the former director of the press
department at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and is a supporter of defeated candidate presidential Mehdi
Karroubi, according to news (http://www.radiofarda.com/content/F7 Saharkhiz Bastani RSFII 770589.html) reports
( hftp:llwww.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4456832,00.html) .
Hangameh Shahidi, blogger
DETAINED: June 30, 2009
Shahidi, a blogger and contributor to reformist newspapers, was arrested on June 30, according to local news reports.
The details of her arrest are unknown.
Sumaia Nusrati, Tehran Emrouz
DETAINED: June 21, 2009
Nusrati, a journalist with Tehran Emrouz and Hayat No, has been detained since June 21, according to local news
reports. The details of her arrest are unknown.
Abulfazl Abedini , freelance
DETAINED: June 30, 2009
Abidini, a freelance journalist and human right activist, was arrested in Ahwaz in southwest Iran on June 30, according to
the U.S.-backed Radio Farda. Security agents searched his house before taking him, the radio station reported. Abidini
was also arrested last year after he reported on a strike by workers at a factory in Ahwaz.
Kambiz Nouroozi, Association of Iranian Journalists
DETAINED: June 28, 2009
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Uniformed officers arrested Nouroozi, director of legal affairs at the Association of Iranian Journalists, in Tehran, the
Persian service of the BBC reported (http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iranl2009l06/O9O629 nm ir88 brief norouzi.shtml) .
He contacted family members to inform them that his case will be referred to the Revolutionary Court, the BBC reported
( http:llwww.bbc.co.uk/persian liran/2009 106 1090629 nm ir88 _ brief _ norouzi.shtml) .
Mujtaba Tehrani, Etemad e Melli
DETAINED: June 27, 2009
Tehrani, a reporter with Etemad e Mel/i, the newspaper owned by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was
arrested on his way home, according to Saham News, a news Web site affiliated with Karroubi. According to Saham
News, Tehrani had informed his family that he was returning home from work, but never arrived. The following day police
visited his home, searched it, and took his computer, the Web site reported.
Names unknown (3), Kalameh Sabz
DETAINED: June 22, 2009
Twenty-five staffers of Kalameh Sabz, a newspaper owned by defeated presidential contender Mir-Hossein Mousavi,
were initially detained. Ayande News, a self-described independent news Web site, reported on June 29 that most were
later released. Three unidentified staffers are believed to be still in custody.
Alireza Beheshti, Kalameh Sabz
DETAINED: June 22, 2009
Beheshti, editor-in-chief of Kalameh Sabz, was arrested on June 22 as he was leaving the newspaper, according to
several local news reports. His arrest came hours after security agents detained about 25 of his staffers, local press
reported.
Maziar Bahari, Newsweek
DETAINED: June 21, 2009
Security agents arrested Newsweek's Tehran correspondent, Maziar Bahari, the magazine reported
( http: / /www.newsweek.com/id/2O3O36 ) . The officers, who did not identify themselves, took Bahari's laptop and several
videotapes, according to Newsweek. On July 15, more than 100 prominent journalists from 47 countries sent a petition
( http:llcpi.orq/2009/O7lfree-maziar-bahari-100-qlobal-iournalists-petition.php ) to the Iranian government calling for his
immediate release.
Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, Iranian Women's Club
Ahmadi Omavi, affiliation unknown
DETAINED: June 19, 2009
Bani-Yaghoub and Omavi, who are married, were arrested by security forces in Tehran, the U.S.-funded Radio Farda
reported (http://www.radiofarda.com/content/F8 JILA BAHMAN ARRESTII759O4O.html) . Bani-Yaghoub is the editor-
in-chief of the /ranian Women's Club, a news Web site (http:/lirwomen.netl) focusing on women's rights. Ishrat Awliai,
Bani-Yaghoub's mother, told the Iranian Women's Club on July 1 that since her arrest Bani-Yaghoub has contacted her
family just once from Evin Prison.
Rajab-Ali Mazroui, Association of Iranian Journalists
DETAINED: June 19, 2009
Mazroui, director of the Association of Iranian Journalists, was arrested on June 19, according to multiple local news
reports. The details of his arrest in Tehran remain unknown.
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Muhammad Ghouchani, Etemad e MeIIi
DETAINED: June 19, 2009
Ghouchani, editor-in-chief of Etemad e Me/li, which is owned by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was
arrested on June 19 by Ettelaat intelligence agents, the BBC Persian service reported (http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian
/ Igliran/2009/06 1090620 _ ba-ir88-qhouchani.shtml) . On June 30, Javan, a newspaper aligned with President Mahmoud
Ahmedinejad, published a “confession” allegedly given by Ghouchani, identifying him by his initials. The newspaper
reported that Ghouchani confessed to having been trained in a Persian Gulf country in preparation for a revolution.
Saeed Laylaz, Sarmaia
DETAINED: June 17, 2009
Lilaz, a journalist for the daily business journal Sarmaia and a vocal critic of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's
economic policy, was arrested in his home on June 17, his wife, Sepharnaz Panahi, told the BBC Persian service
( http:llwww.bbc.co.uk/persian/iranl2009lO6/090617 op ir88 arrests continue.shtml ) ' . She said that officers searched
their home and confiscated videotapes, hard disks, and letters. The family doesn't know where Lilaz is being held, the
BBC reported. Sarmaia also reported (http:/lwww.sarmayeh.netlPDFl88-03-28 1P2.pdf) the arrest.
Karim Arghandehpour, blogger
DETAINED: June 17, 2009
Arghandehpour, a journalist who blogs at Futurama (http:llfuturama.iri9 , was arrested on June 17, according to news
reports. Arghandehpour wrote for the now-defunct reformist newspapers Salaam and Vaghaa-ye-Ettefaaghyeh,
according to the Tehran Bureau, a news Web site.
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, blogger
DETAINED: June 16, 2009
The well-known blogger Abtahi (http://www.webneveshteha.com/) , an adviser to the defeated presidential candidate
Mehdi Karroubi and vice president during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, was arrested on June 16, the BBC Persian
service reported (http:llwww.bbc.co.uklpersianhiranl2009lO6lO9O6 l 6 _ he _ ir88 _ abtahi-arrest.shtml) . A blog entry
( http://www.webneveshteha.com/enfl on his site states that he will resume writing as soon as he is released. His wife,
Fatima Abtahi, told the BBC that three men in plainclothes visited their home in Tehran and took him away.
Sumaia Tawhidlu, blogger
DETAINED: Mid-June
Tawhidlu, who blogs at Sahel e Salamat ( http:/Iwww.smto.iri9 and is a supporter of defeated reformist candidate
Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was arrested in mid-June in Tehran, according to local news reports. The precise date of her
arrest is unknown.
Ahmad Zaid-Abadi, Rooz Online
DETAINED: Mid-June
Zaid-Abadi, a well-known journalist who writes a weekly column for Rooz Online, a Farsi and English reformist news
Web site, was arrested in mid-June in Tehran. Zaid-Abadi is also the director of the Organization of University Alumni of
the Islamic Republic of Iran and a supporter of the defeated candidate Mehdi Karroubi. The details of his arrest remain
unknown.
Mehamsa Amrabadi, Etemad e Melli
Behzad Bashbo, affiliation unknown
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KhaIiI Mir-Ashrafi, affiliation unknown
DETAINED: June 15, 2009
Amrabadi, a reporter for Etemad e Mel/i newspaper, was arrested on June 15, her mother, Maryam Naqi, told
( http:llwww.bbc.co.uk/persian/Iq/iran/2009/06/090620 ba-1r88-qhouchani.shtml) the BBC Persian service. Naqi told the
BBC that the Ministry of Justice informed her on June 18 that her daughter was being held at Evin Prison. On June 17,
Ham Mi/ ian, a news Web site, reported that the cartoonist Bashbo and television producer Mir-Ashrafi were guests at
Amrabadi's home in Tehran when all the three were detained.
Shiwa Nazar-Ahari, blogger
DETAINED: June 14, 2009
Nazar-Ahari, a blogger (http:/Iazadiezan.mihanblog.com/) and a member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters,
a local watchdog group, was arrested by Ettelaat intelligence agents in her Tehran office on June 14, the committee
reported (http://chrr.us/spip.php?article43O6) .
Kayvan Samimi , Nama
DETAINED: June 14, 2009
Samimi, manager of the now-defunct monthly magazine Nama, was arrested on June 14 in Tehran, according to multiple
online articles.
Here are capsule reports on journalists who were imprisoned prior to the June 12 election:
Hossein Derakhshan, blogger
DETAINED: November, 2008
Derakhshan, an Iranian-Canadian who is widely credited for developing software that enabled Farsi speakers to blog in
their native tongue, was arrested in November. The exact date of his arrest is unknown, but the news first appeared on
November 17 on Jahan News, a news web site that is close to the Iranian intelligence apparatus. Jahan News reported
that Derakhshan had confessed “spying for Israel” during the preliminary interrogation. The crime carries the death
penalty. Ali Reza Jamshidi, spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, confirmed in a press conference on December 30 that
Derakhshan had been arrested in connection with remarks he allegedly made about a top Shiite cleric, according to local
and international news reports.
Mohammad Hossein Fallahiyazadeh, Al-Alam
DETAINED: November 1, 2006
Authorities arrested Fallahiyazadeh, 33, on November 1, 2006, and transferred him to Tehran's Evin Prison, according to
the Iran-based human rights group Human Rights Activists in Iran . His detention stemmed from his reporting on the
government's harsh treatment of Iranian-Arab protesters in the Khuzestan provincial capital, Ahwaz, the group said. A
Revolutionary Court convicted him during closed proceedings and sentenced him to a three-year prison term for
spreading propaganda against the Islamic regime and for communicating with opposition groups, according to Human
Rights Activists in Iran and Amnesty International. Fallahiyazadeh, who belongs to Iran's Arab minority, was denied
access to a lawyer, the groups said.
Adnan Hassanpour, Aso
DETAINED: January 25, 2007
Security agents seized Hassanpour, a journalist and former editor for the now-defunct Kurdish-Persian weekly Aso, in his
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hometown of Marivan, in Kurdistan province, according to news reports. A Revolutionary Court convicted him in July
2007 of endangering national security and engaging in propaganda against the state, one of his attorneys, Sirvan
Hosmandi, told CPJ. Hassanpour was sentenced to death. A court of appeals overturned the death sentence in
September 2008 and ordered a new trial on charges of “working for outlawed parties” and espionage, according to the
BBC and a CPJ source.
Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, Payam-e Mardom
DETAINED: July 1, 2007
Plainclothes security officials arrested journalist and human rights activist Kaboudvand at his Tehran office, according to
Amnesty International and CPJ sources. He was being held at Evin Prison in Tehran. Authorities accused Kaboudvand,
head of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and managing editor of the weekly Payam-e Mardom, of acting
against national security and engaging in propaganda against the state, according to his organization's Web site.
Tehran's Revdutionary Court sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
Massoud Kurdpour, freelance
DETAINED: August 9, 2008
Security forces arrested Kurdpour, a freelance journalist and human rights activist, at his home in Bokan, a Kurdish city in
northwest Iran, his brother, Jaafar, told CPJ. He was charged with “propaganda against the regime” because of
interviews he did with foreign media, including the BBC, Radio France Internationale, and the U.S.-government funded
outlets Radio Farda and Voice of America (VOA). Defense attorney Abbas Jamali said Kurdpour was sentenced in
October 2008, to one year in prison. Authorities did not single out specific interviews or topics, but Kurdpour often
addressed the regime's harsh treatment of minorities.
Mojtaba Lotfi, freelance
DETAINED: October 8, 2008
A clergyman and a blogger, Lotfi was arrested by security forces on a warrant issued by the Clergy Court in Qom.
Authorities accused him of publishing the views of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who has criticized Ahmadinejad's
positions. Authorities did not specify particular articles or publications in which the views were supposedly cited. A court
in Qom convicted Lotfi of several charges, including the spread of antistate information, and sentenced him to four years
in prison, according to news accounts published November 30.
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