(RSF/IFEX) – On 2 July 2003, RSF condemned the arrest of another journalist in Iran, Ali Akrami. At least nine journalists have been arbitrarily detained in the past few weeks in a crackdown prompted by student demonstrations. Their place of detention is unknown. Their lawyers and relatives have been unable to contact them. RSF denounced […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 2 July 2003, RSF condemned the arrest of another journalist in Iran, Ali Akrami. At least nine journalists have been arbitrarily detained in the past few weeks in a crackdown prompted by student demonstrations. Their place of detention is unknown. Their lawyers and relatives have been unable to contact them.
RSF denounced the campaign orchestrated by judicial officials and revolutionary guards in the mosques and conservative press in which all the detained students and journalists are accused of being “mohareb” (persons who fight against God), a crime punishable by death.
RSF also reiterated its call for the release of all journalists imprisoned in Iran, of which there are now at least 17. The recent arrests have made Iran the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East.
Akrami worked for the reformist daily “Nedat Eslahat”, which has been closed by the authorities for some time. His wife said she has not seen him since 16 June, when he went missing while outside Tehran University, and that she is worried about his fate.
State Prosecutor Saïd Mortazavi has said the recently detained journalists were being held in Evin prison. However, the journalists’ lawyers who have gone to the prison have been unable to locate their clients and found no mention of their names in the prison’s records.
Mohsen Sazgara, editor of the website Alliran and the now-closed reformist daily “Jameh”, is continuing the hunger strike he began on the day of his arrest, 15 June. He is now very weak and his condition is all the more worrying because he has a heart problem. His wife, who is also on hunger strike to protest his imprisonment, was summoned by judicial officials on 25 June and hospitalised the same day.