Reporters Without Borders: Release Iranian Journalists Ahead of Nowruz
Reporters Without Borders has called on the Islamic Republic to release journalists imprisoned in Iran on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. According to the international organization, 21 male and female journalists are currently imprisoned in Iran.
Reporters Without Borders, which works for the rights of journalists around the world, has called on Iranian authorities to release all imprisoned journalists on the occasion of the beginning of the Lunar New Year because "their only crime is their duty to inform."
According to this international organization, “the Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of the world’s largest prisons for journalists,” and 21 male and female journalists and citizen journalists are currently behind bars.
This organization defending freedom of expression says: "Last year, judicial authorities claimed to have pardoned ten thousand prisoners on the occasion of Nowruz; but this year and to this day, according to the "security" regime, none of the prisoners, including imprisoned journalists, have benefited from this "pardon" and freedom."
The report quotes Javed Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, as saying: "Iran is one of the worst countries in the world in suppressing freedom of information."
According to Reporters Without Borders, Iranian security officials are pressuring Iranian journalists for reporting on the extent of the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Some have been summoned and arrested in this regard.
The report continues by stating that in Iran, families of wanted individuals are also “under security pressure and sometimes arrested.”
Reporters Without Borders has condemned “judicial harassment and blackmail by Iranian authorities against the families of journalists.”
The report concludes that the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 173rd out of 180 countries in the latest global press freedom ranking.
Source: DW
