Committee to Protect Journalists Calls for Immediate Release of Journalist from Abadan

On Wednesday, June 1, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement calling on the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release independent journalist Arash Qale-Golab.

The beginning of this statement states that Mr. Qale-Golab was arrested on Thursday, June 25, in the city of Abadan by government agents who punched and kicked him, and as of the date of publication of the statement, he is still in prison.

According to the report, the Islamic Republic of Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York has refused to respond to an email from the Committee to Protect Journalists on this matter.

“Iranian authorities must realize that they cannot hide the difficult realities and problems of the country [Iran] by silencing and imprisoning journalists,” said Justin Shilad, senior researcher for the Middle East and North Africa division of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release independent journalist Arash Qale-Golab and end the practice of arbitrarily imprisoning media personnel,” he said.

The committee, citing informed sources, writes that Mr. Qaleh-e-Golab writes commentaries and articles for various publications, and one of his writings was recently published by the state-run news website Ensaf News.

Previously, the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners had announced, citing an informed source, that Mr. Qale-Golab suffers from asthma and diabetes, which has increased his family's concerns.

The Iranian Writers' Association also issued a statement in recent days expressing concern over the arrest of Arash Qaleh-e-Golab, a poet and journalist from Abadan, and held the security institutions responsible for the lives of those arrested during the protests against the collapse of the Metropole.

Source: Voice of America