Reporters Without Borders: Iran is the largest prison for women journalists

According to the latest report by Reporters Without Borders, Iran has become the world's largest prison for women journalists, with 10 female journalists and citizen journalists in detention.

Reporters Without Borders has reported a new wave of arrests and repression of journalists and citizen journalists in its latest report. According to the report, the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 170th out of 180 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index. But when it comes to pressure on women journalists, the Islamic Republic falls to the bottom of the list.

According to Reza Moeini, head of the organization's Iran and Afghanistan office, "Iran, which was once one of the world's five largest prisons for journalists, has today become the world's largest prison for female media activists."

He points to the imprisonment of 10 journalists and citizen journalists in the Islamic Republic and calls on the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran to "take urgent action to release these prisoners and the catastrophic state of media freedom in Iran."

Reporters Without Borders has noted the arrest of Noushin Jafari, who was imprisoned in August of this year. She is a cinema and theater journalist and, according to the organization, in a news story published on social media by “trolls close to the Revolutionary Guard.” Noushin Jafari is accused of having an anonymous Twitter account that “insulted Islamic sanctities.” The organization, citing relatives of Noushin Jafari, wrote that she is “under pressure from agents of the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence agency to make false confessions.”

Another case is Marzieh Amiri, a journalist for Shargh newspaper, who was arrested on May 1 of this year (International Workers' Day) on Vazray Street in Tehran while reporting on the detainees of a peaceful gathering held by labor unions. She has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and 148 lashes. According to Reporters Without Borders, “Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court refused to release her temporarily on bail on August 13.” Marzieh Amiri is charged with “gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against national security,” “propaganda against the system,” and “disturbing public order.”

Charge: Reporting on mistreatment and repression of workers

Asal Mohammadi, a student at Azad University and a member of the editorial board of the student publication Gam, has been in prison since last year. She was sent to prison while accompanying people who had participated in the Haft Tappeh workers’ strike in August last year. Reporters Without Borders also reported that Sanaz Allahyari and her husband Amir Hossein Mohammadifar and Amir Amirgholi, other colleagues of the student publication, have been in prison since January of last year for reporting on the Haft Tappeh workers’ strike and the mistreatment and torture of detainees.

Along with these women, Reporters Without Borders has pointed to Farangis Mazloum, the mother of Soheil Arabi, a photographer and citizen journalist who is imprisoned and a winner of the Citizen Journalist Award. She was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence two years ago in early July, and "her only crime is reporting the conditions of her son's detention and protesting the inhuman and cruel treatment of him."

Heavy sentences for criticizing injustice in the judicial system

Hengameh Shahidi is another of these women, who has been in prison since July 2018. She was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison, seven of which are suspended and two years are banned from membership in groups, parties, and online and media activities, and she is not allowed to leave Iran during this period. She “had posted on her Twitter page about the conditions of her previous detention and criticized the injustice in the judiciary and its then-head, Sadegh Larijani.”

Reporters Without Borders has written about the plight of three female prisoners who have faced severe abuse in prison: Sepideh Moradi, Avisha Jalaluddin, and Shima Entesari, three collaborators with the website Majzooban Noor and members of the Gonabadi sect, who are serving five-year prison sentences. The organization wrote about them: “They have been deprived of health and medical care both in Qarchak Prison and in Evin’s Siyehnam Prison.”

Narges Mohammadi, one of the oldest female prisoners

Narges Mohammadi, a journalist and deputy head of the Iranian Human Rights Defenders Association, has been in prison since May 2015. She has been charged with three counts and has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for these three charges: “five years for ‘gathering and colluding against the regime,’ one year for ‘propaganda against the regime,’ and ten years for establishing and cooperating with the Legam Association, an association for the abolition of the death penalty.” Reporters Without Borders wrote that, according to Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, and with a view to “severe punishment,” Narges Mohammadi must serve 10 years in prison.

Source: DW