(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is expressing its grave concern about the reported arrest of Azeri journalist Qanimat Zahidov in northern Iran. **Updates IFEX alert of 7 May 1999** Zahidov, editor-in-chief for the Baku-based daily “Ekspress Gazeta”, disappeared on 3 May 1999, while on his way home from a reporting trip to northern Iran. According to reports […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is expressing its grave concern about the reported arrest
of Azeri journalist Qanimat Zahidov in northern Iran.
**Updates IFEX alert of 7 May 1999**
Zahidov, editor-in-chief for the Baku-based daily “Ekspress Gazeta”,
disappeared on 3 May 1999, while on his way home from a reporting trip to
northern Iran. According to reports in the Azeri press, Zahidov was detained
on 3 May by Iranian customs authorities in Astara on the Iranian-Azerbaijan
border while en route to Azerbaijan. Zahidov’s tape recorder and other
personal materials were reportedly confiscated. Iranian authorities are
ignoring all inquiries from Baku regarding his fate, according to the
independent Turan news agency.
According to staff members at “Ekspress Gazeta”, Zahidov had conducted an
interview with dissident university professor Mahmudali Johragani, a
professor at Tabriz University who is known to support the rights of the
Azeri minority in Iran. Zahidov had phoned his newspaper on 3 May, informing
colleagues that he was returning to Baku on the same day. He has not been
seen since.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
whereabouts and make them public
unconditional release unless it can be shown that he has committed a
criminal offense recognized under international law
Appeals To
His Excellency Mohammad Khatemi
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail: iranemb@salamiran.org
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
