Iran Remains One of the World’s Worst Prisons for Journalists; Number of Imprisoned Journalists Increases Following Recent Protests
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that Iran is among the worst prisons for journalists in the world, announcing an increase in the number of imprisoned journalists in the current year and following recent protests in Iran.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, stated on Wednesday, December 11, in a report that it has identified at least 250 journalists who are detained in connection with their journalistic activities.
According to the report, after China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran are the worst prisons for journalists.
The report emphasized the increase in the number of imprisoned journalists in Iran to 11 people in the current year, and also referred to the arrest of Mohammad Mossaed, an economic journalist, during recent protests in Iran. It stated that during an internet shutdown, which was implemented to prevent the spread of news related to the suppression of protests over gasoline price increases, Mr. Mossaed was arrested for publishing a tweet saying “Hello free world!” and claiming that he used “42 different proxies” to write the tweet.
Previously, international human rights organizations and the United States government have repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of violating freedom of expression and suppressing civil activists, and have called for the release of journalists and writers who have been imprisoned solely for performing their duties and profession.
The report also referred to detained journalists in Turkey, stating that although this is the first time in the past four years that Turkey does not rank first in the census of imprisoned journalists, the reduction in the number of prisoners is not an indication of improvement in the condition of Turkish media.
The Committee to Protect Journalists stated in the report that “the reduction in the number of imprisoned journalists from 68 to 47 people demonstrates that the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has succeeded in silencing independent and critical media by closing more than 100 news outlets and accusing their employees of terrorist crimes.”
Earlier, the U.S. State Department published posts titled “40 Years of Unfulfilled Promises” by the Islamic Republic on its Farsi Twitter account, writing about corruption, lack of freedom of expression, lack of justice, and unfulfilled economic promises by the officials of the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. State Department wrote in these tweets: “Forty years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini promised freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Today, Iran has one of the most repressed media spaces. The ruling regime has only brought 40 years of failure.”
Source: Voice of America
