With 47 Journalists inJail, Iran sets notorious records - Conmttee to Prote , , http://wwwcpJ.org/2010/02/with-47-Journalists-in-Jail-iran-sets-mtoriou.
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(:1: 1? Committee to Protect Journalists
Defending Journal is: s Worldwide
With 47 journalists in jail, Iran sets notorious records
New York, February 3, 2010—Iranian authorities are now holding at least 47
journalists in prison, more than any single country has imprisoned since 1996,
according to a new survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists. While many of the
detainees were arrested in the aftermath of the disputed June presidential election,
CPJ's survey found that authorities are continuing to wage an aggressive campaign to
round up independent and opposition journalists. At least 26 journalists have been
jailed in the last two months alone, CPJ found.
The number of jailed journalists is the highest CPJ has recorded in a single country
since December 1996, when it documented 78 imprisonments in Turkey.
“The relentlessness of the press crackdown in Iran demonstrates that authorities
continue to fear new ideas and information,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
“Our goal is not simply to document the brutality, but to let the government know that
the world is watching.”
CPJ's findings are based on a census of imprisoned Iranian journalists conducted on
February 1. The survey is a snapshot of those incarcerated on that date. It does not
include more than 50 other journalists in Iran who have been imprisoned and released
on bail over the last several months. Five of those now in jail were detained prior to
the 2009 crackdown.
The current detainees include internationally known figures such as Emadeddin Baghi,
the author and human rights defender, and Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, an award-
winning editor and press advocate. They also include journalists such as Mohammad
Davari, an editor who helped expose prisoner abuse at the Kahrizak Detention Center,
and Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights reporter who has been jailed twice in the last
eight months.
In most cases, authorities have filed vague antistate
charges such as “propagation against the regime,”
insulting authorities, and disrupting public order. But
many cases are shrouded in secrecy, without even
formal charges being disclosed.
Some detainees have already been sentenced to
lengthy prison terms, lashes, internal exile, and
lifetime bans on writing and other social and political
actMties. One is on death row. The cases of many
Mashallah Shamsolvaezin (AP)
Jailed reporter Shiva Nazar
Ahari
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others are pending. At least two face heresy charges that, upon conviction, would Emadeddin Baghi (AFP)
bring the death penalty.
In light of the Iranian government's ongoing crackdown, CPJ will conduct monthly surveys of journalists imprisoned in
Iran. (CPJ normally conducts a worldwide survey of jailed journalists each December.)
Iran is now far and away the world's leading jailer of journalists. China was holding 24 journalists behind bars when CPJ
conducted its worldwide census on December 1, 2009. CPJ research shows the number in China has remained stable
since that time.
Here are capsule reports on each journalist jailed in Iran:
Adnan Hassanpour, Aso
Imprisoned: January 25, 2007
Security agents seized Hassanpour, former editor for the now-defunct Kurdish-Persian weekly Aso, in his hometown of
Marivan, Kurdistan province, according to news reports.
A Revolutionary Court convicted Hassanpour in July 2007 of endangering national security and engaging in propaganda
against the state, one of his attorneys, Sirvan Hosmandi, told CPJ. The journalist 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. In November 2009, a trial court convicted Hassanpour on the new
charges and re-imposed the death sentence, the BBC said.
Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, Payam-e Mardom
Imprisoned: 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 is 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. A Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
Mojtaba Lotfi, freelance
Imprisoned: October 8, 2008
A clergyman and blogger, Lotfi was arrested by security forces on a warrant issued by the religious Clergy Court in
Qom. Authorities accused him of publishing the views of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who had criticized President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's positions.
Authorities did not specify particular articles or publications in which the views were supposedly cited. Lotfi was
convicted of several charges, including spreading antistate information, and sentenced to four years in prison, according
to news reports.
Hossein Derakhshan, freelance
Imprisoned: November 2008
On December 30, 2008, a spokesman for the Iranian Judiciary confirmed in a press conference in Tehran that
Derakhshan, a well-known Iranian-Canadian blogger, had been detained since November 2008 in connection with
comments he allegedly made about a key cleric, according to local and international news reports.
The exact date of Derakhshan's arrest was unknown, but news of his detention first appeared on November 17, 2008,
on Jahan News, a Web site close to the Iranian intelligence apparatus. At the time, Jahan News reported that he had
confessed to “spying for Israel” during the preliminary interrogation.
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Derakhshan started blogging after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. A former writer for
reformist newspapers, he also contributed opinion pieces to The Guardian of London and The New York Times. The
journalist, who lived in Canada during most of the last decade, returned to Tehran a few weeks prior to his
detention, The Washington Post reported.
In November, the BBC Persian service reported that Derakhshan's family had sought information about his whereabouts
and the charges he faced and expressed concern about having very limited contact with him.
Nader Karimi Jooni, Jahan-e-Sanat, Sharq, Gozaresh, Fekr, and Siasat-e-Rooz
Imprisoned: December 2008
Jooni, arrested in late 2008, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on January 11, 2010, at Branch 28 of the
Revolutionary Court. He was convicted on charges of mutiny, espionage, and acting against national security, according
( hftp:llwww.kaleme.orq 11388/10 122 1k 1m-8161) to the reformist Web site Kalame. He denied the charges and said the case
was politicized.
Jooni, who was an editor and writer for now-defunct publications such as Gozaresh, Fekr, Jahan-e Sanat, and Siasat
Rooz, was placed in Evin Prison's Ward 209, where political prisoners are held. He is an Iran-Iraq War veteran who
requires ongoing medical care, according to reformist news Web site Kalame (http://www.kaleme.ora/1388/1O
/ 22/k!m-8 16 1 )
Ahmad Zaid-Abadi, freelance
Imprisoned: June 2009
Zaid-Abadi, who wrote a weekly column for Rooz Online, a Farsi- and English-language reformist news Web site, was
arrested in Tehran, according to news reports. Zaid-Abadi is also the director of the Organization of University Alumni of
the Islamic Republic of Iran and a supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi.
Mahdieh Mohammadi, Zaid-Abadi's wife, was allowed to see the journalist after he had spent 53 days in custody,
according to the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. He told her that he was being held in inhumane conditions.
Zaid-Abadi was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding
in August on vague antistate accusations, according to local and international news reports. In November, he was
sentenced to six years in prison, five years of exile in Gonabad, Razavi Khorasan province, and a lifetime deprivation of
social and political activities, according to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters.
Omid Salimi, Nesf e Jehan
Imprisoned: June 14, 2009
Salimi, a photographer who worked for Nesf e Jehan newspaper in Esfahan, was arrested after being summoned by the
Revolutionary Guards to pick up belongings confiscated during an earlier arrest, according to Human Rights and
Democracy Activists in Iran, a local human rights watchdog. Salimi had been detained in December 2008 and had spent
three months in prison on unspecified charges.
After his most recent arrest, Salimi was transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran, according to the Iranian Human Rights
Activists New Agency. No formal charges have been disclosed.
Kayvan Samimi, Nameh
Imprisoned: June 14, 2009
Samimi, manager of the now-defunct monthly Nameh, is being held in Evin Prison after his arrest in Tehran, according to
news reports. Samimi called his family in October to tell them that he was pressured to make a false confession, his
lawyer told Rooz Online.
Samimi was charged with “creating public anxiety,” and “congregation and mutiny to disrupt national security,” his lawyer
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told Zamaneh Radio. Samimi was found guilty of the charges on February 2, 2010, and sentenced to six years
imprisonment and a lifetime deprivation of political activities, according to the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda.
Saeed Laylaz, Sarmayeh
Imprisoned: June 17, 2009
Laylaz, editor of the daily business journal Sarmayeh and a vocal critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic
policies, was arrested at home on June 17, his wife, Sepharnaz Panahi, told the BBC Persian service. She said that
officers searched their home and confiscated videotapes, hard drives, and letters.
Laylaz was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding in
August on vague antistate accusations, according to local and international news reports. He spent 100 days in solitary
confinement at Tehran's Evin Prison before being moved to a group cell, where he was denied newspapers, pen, and
paper, his wife told the Committee of Human Rights Reporters.
Laylaz was charged with “congregation and mutiny against national security, propagation against the regime, disrupting
public order, and keeping classified documents,” according to Mowjcamp, a news Web site supportive of the defeated
presidential candidate M ir-Hossein Mousavi.
After a two-hour trial in November, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to the Human Rights Activists
News Agency and online accounts. His wife told the news Web site Kalameh that the “classified document” that was a
centerpiece of the prosecution was actually a published and widely available investigation into the Iranian judiciary.
Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, freelance
Imprisoned: June 19, 2009
Amouee, a contributor to reformist newspapers such as Mihan, Hamshahri, Jame'e, Khordad, Norooz, and Sharq, and
the author of an eponymous blog, was arrested with his wife, Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, according to news reports.
Bani-Yaghoub, editor-in-chief of the Iranian Women's Club, a news Web site focusing on women's rights, was released
on bail on August 19, according to the BBC Persian service.
Amouee was being held in Tehran's Evin Prison, part of the time in solitary confinement, according to news reports.
Amouee's wife said the journalist was denied access to his family and lawyer for several weeks, according to
Mowjcamp, a news Web site supportive of the reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
On January 5, 2010, Amouee was sentenced to 34 lashes, along with seven years and four months in prison.
Issa Sahar-Khiz, freelance
Imprisoned: July 3, 2009
Sahar-Khiz, a columnist for the reformist news Web sites Rooz Online and Norooz and a founding member of the
Association of Iranian Journalists, was arrested while traveling in northern Iran, the association said in a statement.
Sahar-Khiz's lawyer said his client faces charges of “participation in riots,” “encouraging others to participate in riots,”
and “insulting the supreme leader,” according to Rooz Online.
Sahar-Khiz has had a long career in journalism. He worked for 15 years for IRNA, Iran's official news agency, and ran its
New York office for part of that time. He returned to Iran in 1997 to work in Mohammad Khatami's Ministry of Islamic
Guidance, in charge of domestic publications. Sahar-Khiz and a superior, Ahmad Bouraghani, came to be known as the
architects of a period of relative freedom for the press in Iran. After Sahar-Khiz was forced to leave the ministry and was
banned from government service in a trial, he founded a reformist newspaper, Akhbar-e Eghtesad, and monthly
magazine, Aftab, both of which were eventually banned. Sahar-Khiz wrote articles directly critical of Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.
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Massoud Bastani, Farhikhtegan and Jomhoriyat
Imprisoned: July 5, 2009
Bastani, a journalist for the reformist newspaper Farihikhtegan and Jomhoriyat, a news Web site affiliated with the
defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was arrested when he went to a Tehran court seeking information
about his wife, journalist Mehsa Amrabadi, according to local news reports. Amrabadi, arrested along with two other
journalists on June 15, was released on August 25.
Bastani was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial proceeding in
August on vague antistate accusations, according to news reports. In September, his lawyer, Mohammad Sharrif, told
the Amir Kabir Newsletter Web site that Bastani had spent weeks in solitary confinement.
On October 20, the news site Norooz reported that a court had sentenced Bastani to six years in prison for “propagating
against the regime and congregating and mutinying to create anarchy.”
Bastani had been editor-in-chief of the now-banned Neda-ye Eslahat (Voice of Reform) weekly.
Marjan Abdollahian, Hamshahri
Imprisoned: July 9, 2009
The BBC Persian service and other news outlets reported that authorities had detained Abdollahian, a photo editor for
the Tehran-based Hamshahri newspaper. Six days after her arrest, she called her family to inform them that she was
being held in BÀn Prison, according to the news Web site Rooz Online. No formal charges have been disclosed.
Saeed Matin-Pour, Yar Pag and Mot if Bidari
Imprisoned: July 12, 2009
A Revolutionary Court in Tehran convicted Matin-Pour of having “relations with foreigners and propagating against the
regime,” according to local news reports. He was sentenced to an eight-year prison term.
Matin-Pour was first arrested in May 2007 and released on bail. He was rearrested in 2009 amid the government's
crackdown on the press. The journalist worked for Yar Pag and Mot if Bidari newspapers in western Azerbaijan province,
in addition to writing his own blog, according to local news reports. Matin-Pour suffers from heart and respiratory
problems, and his family was not immediately able to secure a medical release for examination outside prison, according
to the news Web site Advarnews.
More than 100 dissidents and journalists faced vague antistate
accusations during a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August.
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(AP)
Reza Nourbakhsh, Farhikhtegan
Imprisoned: August 4, 2009
Authorities took Nourbakhsh, editor-in-chief of the reformist newspaper Farhikhtegan, into custody after searching his
home, according to news reports. Nourbakhsh also contributed to Jomhoriyat, a news Web site supportive of the
defeated presidential candidate M ir-Hossein Mousavi.
Nourbakhsh was among more than 100 opposition figures and journalists who faced a mass, televised judicial
proceeding in August on vague antistate accusations, according to news reports. He was sentenced to six years in
prison on November 3, although the exact charges against him were not disclosed.
Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi Rad, Saham News
Imprisoned: September 2009
Sohrabi Rad was arrested by Ministry of Information agents on charges of working with Saham News in preparing a
documentary on prisoner abuse at the Kahrizak Detention Center, according (file:lIl%2 ohttp:Ilwww.hra-news.org
InewsIl2O7l.aspx) to the reformist Web site Asr-e Nou. (The detention center was closed in July 2009 after evidence
emerged of pervasive abuse of detainees.)
Asr-e Nou reported that Sohrabi Rad had been subjected to physical and psychological pressure at Evin Prison.
Authorities transferred Sohrabi Rad from Ward 209, where political prisoners are held, to solitary confinement in Ward
240, according to news reports. A prison doctor said the journalist was suffering greatly in prison, according
( http:llhrdai.b logspot.com/2010/01/blog-post 3603.html) to the Web site of Human Rights and Democracy Activists of
Iran. He was married shortly before his arrest, according to the site.
Mohammad Davari, Saham News
Imprisoned: September 5, 2009
Saham News, a Web site affiliated with presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, reported that its editor-in-chief, Davari,
had been detained. Seventeen days after his arrest, the journalist was allowed to contact his family, according to
the Tahavolkhani news Web site. His mother said he was being held at Tehran's Evin Prison.
Davari was brought to trial on November 22 on charges of propagation against the regime, congregation and mutiny for
disrupting national security, and creating chaos in public order.
In the weeks after the election, Davari had videotaped the testimony of inmates at Kahrizak Detention Center who
alleged they had been raped and abused while in custody, according to the Free iranian Journalists blog. (The detention
center was closed in July 2009 after evidence emerged of pervasive abuse of detainees.)
Alireza Moghiseh, Iranian Journalists Association
Imprisoned: October 18, 2009
Moghiseh is a member of the Iranian Journalists Association and the prisoner-abuse fact-finding committee of reformist
candidates M ir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, according (http:/Iwww.roozonhine.com/persian/news/newsitem
/ article/2O lOIianuarvIO5/-b4d18a786f.html) to Rooz Online and the news Web site Sedayefarda
( http:llwww.sedayefarda.com/humanrights/106-human-rights/1748-1388-07-26-06-50-39.htmfl .
He is being held in Evin Prison's Ward 209, where political prisoners are jailed, but little other information on his case has
been disclosed, according to the same news reports. Moghiseh is an Iran-Iraq war veteran.
Javad Mahzadeh, freelance
Imprisoned: October 22, 2009
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Mahzadeh, a journalist and novelist, was arrested on his way to work on the orders of the Revelutionary Court's
prosecutor's office, according to local news reports.
Mahzadeh, a political analyst and a literary critic who wrote for the Web sites lranian Diplomacy and Baran, is
well-known in Iran for the novel, Take Away Your Laughter. Authorities confiscated a computer from his home, according
to news reports. No formal charges have been disclosed.
Mazdak Ali Nazari, Nasim Haraz Monthly and Journalism for Peace
Imprisoned: November 2009
Nazari, who won the Iranian Journalists Association's Best Journalist Award in 2007, was arrested at his home sometime
in the second week of November, according to news accounts and human rights groups.
Nazari was editor of Nasim Haraz Monthly, a cultural magazine, and editor-in-chief of Journalism for Peace, a critical
Web site focusing on human rights. He is also author of the blog Zemzemeh Haye Divaneh. Nazari told his family about
his arrest in a brief telephone call, but he was unable to relay details, including his whereabouts, according to Rooz
Online, a Farsi- and English-language reformist news Web site.
Nazari had also worked for Etemad e Melli, the newspaper owned by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi.
Sassan Aghaee, freelance
Imprisoned: November 22, 2009
Security forces raided the home of Aghaee, a seasoned journalist who contributed to a number of newspapers,
including Farhikhtegan, Etemacl, Tose'eh, Mardom Salari, and Etemad e Melli. He was also author of the blog Free
Tribune.
Aghaee is being held at E'An Prison, according to news accounts. No formal charges have been disclosed. In a letter the
journalist asked to be opened in case of his arrest, Aghaee said any confessions he might make in custody should be
disregarded as coerced, according to the reformist Web site Jaras.
Saeed Jalalifar, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Saeed Katanaki, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: December 2, 2009
Jalalifar and Kalanaki, who reported on child labor and political prisoner issues, were arrested after being summoned by
the Ministry of Information, the reformist news Web site Kalame reported (hftp:l/www.kaleme.orglfeed) . No formal
charges have been disclosed against the two, the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda reported
( http:llwww.radiofarda.comlcontentlf35 JalaliFar KaIanakiIl893l 45.htm I/content/f35 JalaliFar Kalanakill 893145.html) .
Jalalifar and Kalanaki were the first of several committee journalists to be arrested for their work in exposing alleged
human rights violations and government malfeasance. Jalalifar was unable to contact his family during the first 40 days of
his confinement, according (http:llwww.chrr.us/spip.php?article78O3) to the committee's Web site.
Kouhyar Goudarzi, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: December 20, 2009
Goudarzi, a veteran journalist for the human rights committee, has been charged with moharebeh, or heresy, a capital
crime, according to local news reports and the BBC Persian service. Held at Evin Prison, he has also been charged with
propagation against the regime and participating in illegal congregations.
Visitors to the prison said Goudarzi's head was bandaged, although it was not clear how he sustained his injuries,
according to the reformist online publication Rooz Online. The human rights committee said judicial authorities have
sought to link the organization to external political parties.
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Shiva Nazar Ahari, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Saeed Haeri, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: December 20, 2009
Nazar Ahari and Haeri were detained while on a bus taking them from Tehran to Qom to attend the funeral of Ayatollah
Hossein-Ali Montazeri, the influential cleric who had criticized the government's conduct.
Nazar Ahari had been jailed for four months in the immediate aftermath of the disputed June presidential election. She
was free on bail when she was rearrested in December. The reformist Web site Kalame said Nazar Ahari is in solitary
confinement at Evin Prison's Ward 209, where political prisoners are held.
In a meeting with Nazar Ahari's family members, a prosecutor claimed that the human rights committee was affiliated
with an armed opposition group, Kalame reported. Haeri's family was unable to visit the journalist until January 24,
according to the Amir Kabir Bulletin (http:/Iwww.autnews.delnode/6632) , an online student news site critical of the
Iranian government.
Nazar Ahari has been charged with illegal congregation, according to the committee's Web site. No formal charges have
been disclosed against Haeri.
Mohammad Nourizad, freelance
Imprisoned: December 20, 2009
The BBC Persian service reported (http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2009/1 2/091220 na nourizad detained.shtml) that
Nourizad, a blogger and documentary filmmaker, was arrested after he wrote an open letter to Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei urging him to apologize for the government's post-election conduct, and an article
( http:llmohammadnurizad.blogfa.com/) criticizing the head of Iran's judiciary.
The government-run Mehr News said Nourizad is charged with “insulting authorities” and “propagation against the
regime.” On January 5, security officers raided Nourizad's home, seizing his computer and documents, according
( http://www.rahesabz.net/story/7247/) to the pro-opposition news Web site Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz.
Held at Evin Prison, Nourizad has waged a hunger strike, according (http://www.hra-news.org/news/11905.aspx) to the
Human Rights Activists News Agency. Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported that (http://www.rahesabz.net/storv/8425/ )
Nourizad's wife was denied visitation rights.
Nourizad had once written for Kayhan, a newspaper closely associated with conservative elements in the government,
but he distanced himself from the publication after the disputed June presidential election. Kayhan has repeatedly
attacked Nourizad and his writing since that time, according to CPJ research.
( http:llnews.gooya.com/politics/archives/201 0/01/098659.php )
Emadeddin Baghi, freelance
Imprisoned: December 23, 2009
Baghi, the prominent Iranian author, journalist, and human rights activist, was arrested after being summoned to the
security division of the RevDlutionary Court, according (http://www.ayandenews.com/news/1 6776) to the reformist
Ayandeh News Web site.
When Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri died in December, the BBC Persian service aired a two-year old interview that
Baghi had conducted with the influential cleric. Baghi was arrested soon after the rebroadcast. The government has
sought to clamp down on publicity about Montazeri, who had criticized the conduct of the June presidential election.
Baghi has been arrested numerous times in the past. In 2000, he was sentenced (http://cpj.org/2000/07/journalist-
sentenced-for-criticizing-regime.php) to five and a half years in prison on charges of “questioning Islamic law,”
“threatening national security,” and “spreading unsubstantiated news” in articles detailing the roles of intelligence agents
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in a series of politically motivated murders. He served three years in prison before being released. He was arrested
again in 2007 and served several months for “acting against national security,” according to local and international news
reports.
Alireza Beheshti Shirazi, Kalameh Sabz
Imprisoned: December 23, 2009
Shirazi, editor-in-chief of the now-defunct reformist daily Kalameh Sabz, was taken from his home and brought to an
unknown location, according to international news reports (http:Ilwww.cnn.com/2009IWORLD/meast/12/28/iran.arrests/ )
Shirazi had been arrested (hftp://cpj.org/2009/06/iran-releases-some-journalists-vilifies-foreign-pr.php) and released in
the aftermath of the disputed June presidential election. At the time, he had given interviews to foreign-language news
media about the post-election turmoil.
Arvin Sedaghat Kish, Farhang va A hang
Imprisoned: December 27, 2009
Kish, a writer for the culture and arts magazine Farhang va Ahang, was the first of three journalists for the monthly
publication to be arrested, according to CPJ research. Kish, who is also a musician, wrote for other magazines and Web
sites, including Harmony Talk, according (http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2010/01/100117 _ u01 - Il 7-atashi.shtm I ) to the
BBC Persian service.
No formal charges have been disclosed.
Mostafa Izadi, Etemad e Melli
Imprisoned: December 28, 2009
Author and journalist Izadi was arrested at his home by security agents who also searched the property, according
( http:llwww.advarnews.bizlhumanriqhtll0l59.aspx) to the reformist news Web site Advar News. He had worked for
Etemad e Me/li, a now-closed daily newspaper owned by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi.
Between 1997 and 2000, Izadi was chief editor of the now-banned reformist newspaper Ava Weekly. Izadi is the author
of a book about the life of recently deceased Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri.
Sam Mahmoudi Sarabi, Etemad
Imprisoned December 29, 2009
Sarabi, a journalist for the reformist daily Etemad, was arrested and placed in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where political
prisoners are held, according to local news (hftp://parlemannews.ir/?n=6690) reports and the BBC
( http:llwww.bbc.co.uk/persianliran/2009/1 2/091229 m detainees post ashura.shtml) Persian service. The Human Rights
Activists News Agency reported (hftp://www.hra-news.orq/news/12688.aspx) that prison authorities advised Sarabi's
family not to make inquiries about his case.
Kayvan Mehregan, Etemad
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Mehregan is the editor of the political section of the reformist daily Etemad. Authorities arrested him at his office,
according to local news reports. No formal charges have been disclosed against him.
Badressadat Mofidi, Iranian Journalists Association
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Mofidi writes articles and conducts interviews with national and international media outlets as secretary of the Iranian
Journalists Association, according to local news reports. She had discussed the government's press policies in a
December 22 interview (http:l/www.dw-world.de/dwlarticle/0,,504668200.html) with the Persian service of the German
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public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. No formal charges have been disclosed against her.
Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom of the Press
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Shamsolvaezin, journalist and spokesman for the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom of the Press, was
arrested at his Tehran home, according to (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi /middle east /8433464.stm) the BBC and local news
reports. Six plainclothes agents entered Shamsolvaezin's home with a blank, or nameless, warrant, according
( hftp:llwww.rahesabz.net/story/shams) to the reformist news Web site Rahesabz. Shamsolvaezin demanded that police
produce a warrant that included his name, but senior officers were summoned and took him away, Rahesabz reported.
Shamsolvaezin is former editor of the reformist dailies Jame'eli, Tous, Neshati, and Asr-e Azadegan, which were
successively shut down by Tehran's Press Court between 1998 and 2000. He was sentenced (http: /Icpi.orq 12000 104
/ iran-Ieadinq-editor-jailed.php) in April 2000 to 30 months in prison for insulting Islamic principles in an article that
criticized capital punishment; he was released after spending 17 months at Evin Prison.
He was a recipient (hftp://cpi.orq/awards/2000/awards00.php) of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award in 2000 for
courage and independence in reporting the news. Most recently, Shamsolvaezin has been an outspoken advocate for a
free press in Iran and has appeared frequently on television as a media analyst.
Abdolreza Tajik, Etemad
Imprisoned: December 29, 2009
Tajik, a journalist with the reformist newspaper Etemad, was arrested as he arrived at the newspaper's offices, the
opposition Web site Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported (http:llwww.free-journalists.com/2009l12/blog-post 3001 . html) .
Tajik had been jailed for 46 days during the government's post-election crackdown.
Tajik's family has been prohibited from visiting him during his current detention, according (http:/Iwww.hra-news.orq
1news 112688.aspx) to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Authorities have also prohibited his attorney from
reviewing the case or meeting with the prosecutor, according to the agency. No formal charges have been disclosed.
Omid Montazeri, freelance
Imprisoned: December 30, 2009
Montazeri faces charges related to his participation in Ashura Day protests on December 28, 2009, along with his
published articles and interviews with foreign news outlets, his aunt told the reformist news site Farhanq-e Goft-o Goo
( http:llfarhanggoftego.com/index.php?option=com content&view—article&id=787:2010-02-O1-08-05-08&
catid=35:2009-08-24-18-45-37&Itemid=54#JOSC TOP) . The site said Montazeri has denied all charges. Montazeri is being
tried along with 15 other people, some of whom face charges as serious as the capital crime of moharebeh, or heresy.
Defense attorneys have been obstructed in their efforts to confer with Montazeri and review his file, the journalist's sister
told (http://www.radiofarda.com/content /f35 Montazeri Fahimi/1 944406.html) the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda.
Government media have published Montazeri's “confessions,” which his sister said appear to be coerced. She said she
is deeply concerned about the physical and psychological conditions in which her brother is being held.
Montazeri was arrested a day after his mother, peace activist Mahin Fahimi was taken into custody, according
( http://www.rahesabz.net/story/7244/ ) to Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz Web site. Montazeri's father was executed for his
political activities in 1988.
Mahsa Hekmat, Etemad e MeIIi
Imprisoned: January 1, 2010
Etemad e Mel/i, the now-banned newspaper owned by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was arrested at
her father's farm in Saveh, outside Tehran, according to the news Web site Norooz. Hekmat's whereabouts and legal
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status have not been disclosed.
In April 2009, Hekmat interviewed the prominent opposition journalist Seyed Ebrahim Nabavi, who is now in exile.
Hekmat's father, Ali, a former reformist newspaper editor, was also arrested at the family farm. CPJ is investigating the
basis for that arrest. Several other people were also detained that day at the Hekmat farm but have since been
released.
Parisa Kakaee, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Mehrdad Rahimi, Committee of Human Rights Reporters
Imprisoned: January 1, 2010
Kakaee and Rahimi, journalists for the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, were arrested after being summoned by
the Ministry of Information, the reformist news Web site Kalame reported ) . Several other
committee journalists have been arrested for their work in exposing alleged human rights violations and government
malfeasance.
Rahimi told his family that interrogators said he would be charged with the capital crime, moharebeh, or heresy, Kalame
said. The charge was formally announced in late January, according to the BBC Persian service.
Rouzbeh Karimi, Kargozaran
Imprisoned: January 2, 2010
A reporter with reformist daily Kargozaran and regular contributor to the reformist news Web sites Advar News,
Rokhdad, and Feminist School, Karimi was arrested along with his wife, Forough Mirzaee, a human rights lawyer, at
their Tehran home, according to local news reports (http:/lwww.rahesabz.netlstoryl7O22) .
His brother, Siamak, told (http:llwww.advarnews.uslorganizationl lO2O7.aspx) Advar News that officials have disclosed
no formal charges.
Yadollah Eslami, Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz
Imprisoned: January 4, 2010
Eslami, former editor of the long-banned newspaper Path, wrote most recently for Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz, a Web site
that had backed reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Eslami's family publicized the arrest on January 27 after losing hope for a timely release. Eslami, who is also a practicing
ophthalmologist, was arrested at a Tehran medical facility, according to Parleman News ( http:llparlemannews.ir
l?n=7076) , the official Web site of the minority factions in the Iranian parliament.
Behrang Tonkaboni, Farhang va A hang
Kayvan Farzin, Farhang va A hang
Imprisoned: January 6, 2010
Tonkaboni, editor-in-chief of the culture and arts monthly Farhang va Ahang, and Farzin, a reporter for the publication,
were arrested at their office, according (http:llnews.gooya.comlpoliticslarchivesl20l0lOll09865l.php) to local news
reports.
Police searched Tonkaboni's home, confiscating his computer and documents belonging to his mother, the prominent
author Lili Farhadpour, news reports said. Farhadpour was arrested two weeks later. Authorities also seized Farzin's
computer hard drive, according to the news reports.
Mostafa Dehghan, freelance
Imprisoned: January 8, 2010
Dehghan wrote about social issues for several newspapers and the women's rights Web site Change for Equality,
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according (file:I/I%2 ohttp://www.rahesabz.net/story/7558/%20%20) to Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz. He is being held in Evin
Prison's Ward 209, where political prisoners are held.
The Web site Jmin News ( http:I/www.jminews.comlnewslfal?mi=39&ni=6132) said Dehghan called his family in
mid-January, but the journalist did not know why he had been detained.
Mehraneh Atashi, freelance
Imprisoned: January 11, 2010
Atashi, a freelance photographer, and her husband were arrested at their home, according (http://www.radiofarda.com
/ archive/news/201 00118/143/1 43.html?id=1 932144) to the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda and other news sources.
Agents seized some of the couple's personal items, including their computer, reports said.
Atashi, 30, worked with several domestic publications, such as Soroush Javan and Hamshahri Javan according to
( Kalame (http://www.kaleme.orq/1388/10/28/klm-8659Web site, and her work has been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe.
Background on her husband was not immediately available.
Lili Farhadpour, freelance
Imprisoned: January 21, 2010
Farhadpour, a veteran journalist who has written about cultural and social issues for reformist newspapers, was arrested
by security forces at her home. She is also the mother of Behrang Tonekaboni, editor-in-chief of Fahang va Ahang, who
was arrested on January 6.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This alert has been corrected to reflect that Kayvan Mehregan and Badressadat Mofidi are not
related.
February 3, 2010 8:41 AM ET I Permalink (http://cpj.org/2010/02/with-47-journalists-in-jail-iran-sets-notorious-re.php )
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