Iranian security forces have arrested at least 23 journalists since the latest wave of protests began almost two weeks ago, the New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) said on Wednesday. The office of the UN human rights commissioner states the number of at least 18 arrested journalists. The Iranian Journalists Association has repeatedly called for the immediate release of all local reporters who are being held in custody for reporting on the protests. According to the Iranian judiciary, any support for and reports about the protests can lead to further riots and can therefore also be construed as a criminal offence. The journalists’ association vehemently rejects this, arguing that the journalists were just doing their jobs.
Nilufar Hamedi reported early on about Mahsa Amini’s death
Among the jailed journalists is Nilufar Hamedi. The reporter from the reform-oriented Shargh newspaper had visited the hospital where Amini was being held and helped publicize her case. According to her husband, she is in solitary confinement and does not know why she was arrested. Among those arrested is the well-known photo reporter Yalda Moaieri, who became known, among other things, for photos of the protests in 2019. She is said to be in the Gharchak prison for women on the outskirts of Tehran. “We are not safe here” and our situation is very bad,” she is quoted as saying by the Iran News website. According to reports from Iran, apart from the arrests, journalists have been summoned by the security authorities or threatened over the phone.
“Known Pattern of the Security Apparatus”
Behzad Ahmadinia, an Iranian journalist living in Cyprus and a member of the International Federation of Journalists, told DW: “The suppression of information is just as important for the Iranian government as the suppression of street protests.” A free flow of information, for example about corruption in Iran, is the greatest nightmare of the leadership in Iran, as it is for all undemocratic governments. Ahmadinia explains the current action against journalists as follows: “By eliminating reliable sources, the Iranian government can publish news mixed with lies at short notice in order to take action against solidarity in society and the increase in protests.” Farzad Seifi Karan, an Iranian journalist living in the Netherlands and also a member of the International Federation of Journalists, sees the crackdown on Iranian journalists as an attempt to suppress international reporting on the anti-government protests.
Two weeks after Mahsa Amini’s death, the demonstrations continue
“When ‘political unrest’ erupts and people demonstrate in large numbers, the security forces arbitrarily arrest journalists, activists and human rights defenders to prevent any form of publicity and criticism of the security forces’ human rights abuses,” Mansoureh Mills of Amnesty International said the British “Independent”. Iran’s security agencies have shown a “pattern of concealing the truth in their human rights abuses,” says Mills. This behavior is well remembered after the November 2019 protests, when hundreds were killed and the security authorities persistently denied responsibility.
In the three decades between the Islamic revolution of 1979 and 2009, the Iranian government arrested and imprisoned at least 860 journalists and executed around 50. This is borne out by documents leaked to the NGO “Reporters Without Borders” (RSF). The RSF Press Freedom Index ranks Iran 178th out of 180 countries.
