“In Iran, the freedom of the press is severely restricted and on-line publications are the only way to circulate independent information. The recent crackdown is a further restriction in an already very repressive landscape”, declared Sidiki Kaba, President of the FIDH.
Shahram Rafiezadeh, Hanif Mazrooi, Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, Omid Memarian and Javad Gholam Tamayomi are presently detained. In spite of repeated protests by their families, the Federation of Iranian journalists and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (FIDH member organisation in Iran), up to now, they don’t have access to a lawyer and their family cannot visit them. They have not been informed yet of the charges against them.
The FIDH recalls Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran, which states that “Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him” and adds “Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge (...) shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release”.
The FIDH recalls that several other journalists are as well in prison for the mere exercise of their right to freedom of expression : Akbar Ganji, Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari, Hossein Ghazian, Abbas Abdi, Reza Alidjani, Taghi Rahmani, Hoda Rezazadeh-Saber, Iraj Jamshidi and Ensafali Hedayat. Nasser Zarafchan, a lawyer and human rights defenders is equally in jail.
“This recent crackdown is just the continuation of the policy carried out in the run-up to the last legislative election, whereby many reformist candidates were rejected by the Council of Guardians. The release on 14 October 2004 of Ali-Reza Jabbari shows how domestic and international pressure is key in order to get improvements of the human rights situation in Iran”, added Karim Lahidji, President of the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights and Vice-President of the FIDH.
The FIDH considers the recent arrests as arbitrary and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all the prisoners of opinion in Iran.