Ten women who work in the media are currently behind bars in the Islamic Republic
The arrest on 22 July of two journalists and a photographer, including the Tehran correspondent of the Washington Post and his Iranian wife, brings to 65 the number of news providers behind bars in Iran.
They include 10 women, of whom three are foreign nationals, making Iran the world’s leading jailer of female journalists and netizens.
Reporters Without Borders is extremely concerned by this wave of summonses and arrests aimed mainly at women working in the media, seven of whom have received prison terms of between six months and 20 years.
The Washington Post’s correspondent Jason Rezaian, who has dual US and Iranian nationality, and his Iranian journalist wife Yeganeh Salehi were arrested at their Tehran home….
“With 65 journalists and netizens in prison, Iran is still one of the world’s biggest prisons for people working in the media,” said Reza Moïni, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan desk. “The country is also the leading jailer of women journalists and netizens. The justice authorities, in collusion with the Revolutionary Guards and the ministry of intelligence, flout the rights of women who work in the media…”
Iran is one of the world’s most repressive countries as regards freedom of information. It is ranked 173rd of 180 countries in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters without Borders.
(Reporters without Borders -July 28, 2014)
