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| Iranian journalists in fear after arrests | Iranian journalists in fear after arrests |
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| The arrests of at least 15 journalists in Tehran over the course of three days this week, just a few months before the June presidential election, has come as a shock to members of the Iranian press. Most of those detained work for pro-reform publications and many other reformist journalists fear they may be next. | The arrests of at least 15 journalists in Tehran over the course of three days this week, just a few months before the June presidential election, has come as a shock to members of the Iranian press. Most of those detained work for pro-reform publications and many other reformist journalists fear they may be next. |
| "We have to stay up all night tonight," said a journalist based in Tehran. "They could raid our homes.". An art critic felt compelled to delete files: "I wiped out all the history on my laptop and deleted all my Word files." | "We have to stay up all night tonight," said a journalist based in Tehran. "They could raid our homes.". An art critic felt compelled to delete files: "I wiped out all the history on my laptop and deleted all my Word files." |
| Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic Republic has not had a good relationship with non-conformist journalists, who have been harassed and detained on a regular basis for the past three decades. According to political tradition, however, more leeway had generally been granted in the months leading up to national elections to help create a "cheerful" atmosphere and attract voters to the polls. | Since its inception in 1979, the Islamic Republic has not had a good relationship with non-conformist journalists, who have been harassed and detained on a regular basis for the past three decades. According to political tradition, however, more leeway had generally been granted in the months leading up to national elections to help create a "cheerful" atmosphere and attract voters to the polls. |
| In 2009, the two leading reformist candidates for president, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, each had their own official newspapers - respectively Kalameh (The Word) and Etemad Melli (Public Credence) - in which they stated their positions and ran unabashed criticisms of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration. Other dailies were also able to embrace a pro-reform line with relative freedom. Not a single journalist was harassed during the months preceding the election that June. | In 2009, the two leading reformist candidates for president, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, each had their own official newspapers - respectively Kalameh (The Word) and Etemad Melli (Public Credence) - in which they stated their positions and ran unabashed criticisms of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration. Other dailies were also able to embrace a pro-reform line with relative freedom. Not a single journalist was harassed during the months preceding the election that June. |
| The current crackdown apparently began Saturday with the arrests of Milad Fadayi-Asl, political affairs editor of the Iranian Labour New Agency (ILNA), and Soleyman Mohammadi, a reporter for the Bahar daily. | The current crackdown apparently began Saturday with the arrests of Milad Fadayi-Asl, political affairs editor of the Iranian Labour New Agency (ILNA), and Soleyman Mohammadi, a reporter for the Bahar daily. |
| Late Sunday afternoon, according to BBC Persian, eight security agents entered the offices of the pro-reform Etemad daily (distinct from Karroubi's Etemad Melli, which was shuttered by authorities after the 2009 election). They detained social affairs editor Nasrin Takhayori, political affairs editor Javad Dalirei, and Saturday supplement editor Sassan Aghaei, who were taken to an unknown location. They also had an arrest warrant for another member of the paper's staff, Sassan Mazandarani, who has not present. Eight other agents went to the offices of Bahar around the same time looking for Reyhaneh Tabatabaei, but the young journalist was not there. | Late Sunday afternoon, according to BBC Persian, eight security agents entered the offices of the pro-reform Etemad daily (distinct from Karroubi's Etemad Melli, which was shuttered by authorities after the 2009 election). They detained social affairs editor Nasrin Takhayori, political affairs editor Javad Dalirei, and Saturday supplement editor Sassan Aghaei, who were taken to an unknown location. They also had an arrest warrant for another member of the paper's staff, Sassan Mazandarani, who has not present. Eight other agents went to the offices of Bahar around the same time looking for Reyhaneh Tabatabaei, but the young journalist was not there. |
| That evening, agents raided the offices of two more dailies, Areman - where they arrested Motahhareh Shafiee and Nargess Jodaki - and Shargh - where they arrested Pejman Mousavi, Pouria Alemei, and Sadra Mohaghegh (the last has since reportedly been released along with others unnamed). Akbar Montadji was arrested at the offices of the weekly Aseman, and two more journalists, Emily Amraei and Sabba Azarpeyk, were arrested in their homes. Later that night a short report from the semi-official Mehr News suggested that some of those arrested were involved with "anti-revolutionary Farsi outlets" - implicitly, the Persian-language services of the BBC and Voice of America. | That evening, agents raided the offices of two more dailies, Areman - where they arrested Motahhareh Shafiee and Nargess Jodaki - and Shargh - where they arrested Pejman Mousavi, Pouria Alemei, and Sadra Mohaghegh (the last has since reportedly been released along with others unnamed). Akbar Montadji was arrested at the offices of the weekly Aseman, and two more journalists, Emily Amraei and Sabba Azarpeyk, were arrested in their homes. Later that night a short report from the semi-official Mehr News suggested that some of those arrested were involved with "anti-revolutionary Farsi outlets" - implicitly, the Persian-language services of the BBC and Voice of America. |
| In the predawn hours Monday, members of the Tehran media community were buzzing about the spate of arrests on Facebook. One political affairs correspondent wrote of Emily Amraei, "They've wracked my nerves. Why did they arrest Emily? I swear to god that they've gone mad - detaining cultural and social affairs journos." Amraei, one of Iran's best-known film and literary critics, had recently been writing for Bahar and two monthlies, Andisheh and Pouya. | In the predawn hours Monday, members of the Tehran media community were buzzing about the spate of arrests on Facebook. One political affairs correspondent wrote of Emily Amraei, "They've wracked my nerves. Why did they arrest Emily? I swear to god that they've gone mad - detaining cultural and social affairs journos." Amraei, one of Iran's best-known film and literary critics, had recently been writing for Bahar and two monthlies, Andisheh and Pouya. |
| The political correspondent, who has his own record of detentions, also expressed concern about Etemad's Sassan Aghaei. "I am very worried for Sassan. They may hold him, he has a year's suspension." Arrested in 2009 amid the protests against Ahmadinejad's re-election, which many Iranians regard as having been fraudulent, Aghaei was sentenced to a year in jail but was released after four months. | The political correspondent, who has his own record of detentions, also expressed concern about Etemad's Sassan Aghaei. "I am very worried for Sassan. They may hold him, he has a year's suspension." Arrested in 2009 amid the protests against Ahmadinejad's re-election, which many Iranians regard as having been fraudulent, Aghaei was sentenced to a year in jail but was released after four months. |
| Monday brought more troubling news for the press. Around noon, the Fars News Agency - which is operated by a subsidiary of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - reported on the detention of another two journalists a few hours earlier, Keyvan Mehregan and Hossein Yaghchi. Mohammad Hosseini, Ahmadinejad's minister of culture and Islamic guidance, declared, "The charges against the journalists detained in Tehran are not 'journalistic.'" He added that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance was pursuing the case and planned to "clarify and report" on it. | Monday brought more troubling news for the press. Around noon, the Fars News Agency - which is operated by a subsidiary of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - reported on the detention of another two journalists a few hours earlier, Keyvan Mehregan and Hossein Yaghchi. Mohammad Hosseini, Ahmadinejad's minister of culture and Islamic guidance, declared, "The charges against the journalists detained in Tehran are not 'journalistic.'" He added that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance was pursuing the case and planned to "clarify and report" on it. |
| That same morning, a member of the Office for Consolidation of Unity, the leading anti-regime university student organisation, analysed the implications of the arrests. "First, civic and political activists are to understand that there will be no such freedoms in this cycle because of the pending elections [as there were in 2009], and that the elections will be carried out by the government in its own engineered manner, and that it will not allow anyone from outside to meddle in this orchestration. | That same morning, a member of the Office for Consolidation of Unity, the leading anti-regime university student organisation, analysed the implications of the arrests. "First, civic and political activists are to understand that there will be no such freedoms in this cycle because of the pending elections [as there were in 2009], and that the elections will be carried out by the government in its own engineered manner, and that it will not allow anyone from outside to meddle in this orchestration. |
| "The second message is to the people: 'Don't hang your hopes on journalists, or civic and political activists. We have smothered them with fear.'" The inspiration of "electoral excitement," he added, no longer seemed to be of major concern to the regime. | "The second message is to the people: 'Don't hang your hopes on journalists, or civic and political activists. We have smothered them with fear.'" The inspiration of "electoral excitement," he added, no longer seemed to be of major concern to the regime. |
| Fars, in its Persian Mutterings column, claimed that one of the reasons for the detention of a number of "activists" employed in press positions was "contact with foreign media." A female political reporter said, "This is their most damning accusation they level against a journalist. What does 'contact with foreign media' mean? Many of our journalist friends have left for Europe or the United States over the last four years. We remain friends, we support each other on Facebook, we chat and talk. They call these conversations 'contact with foreign media outlets.'" | Fars, in its Persian Mutterings column, claimed that one of the reasons for the detention of a number of "activists" employed in press positions was "contact with foreign media." A female political reporter said, "This is their most damning accusation they level against a journalist. What does 'contact with foreign media' mean? Many of our journalist friends have left for Europe or the United States over the last four years. We remain friends, we support each other on Facebook, we chat and talk. They call these conversations 'contact with foreign media outlets.'" |
| The extensive arrest of journalist after the unrest following the 2009 presidential elections forced many to leave the country. At least 100 journalists who supported the Green Movement were detained. According to Reporters Without Borders, 37 journalists left the country in 2010 alone. | The extensive arrest of journalist after the unrest following the 2009 presidential elections forced many to leave the country. At least 100 journalists who supported the Green Movement were detained. According to Reporters Without Borders, 37 journalists left the country in 2010 alone. |
| The political reporter continued, "So, once and for all, come out and say that we should cut off our contacts with the outside world and become like the citizens of North Korea. They [the government] know that we will not do such things. That is why they call contacts with age-old self-exiled friends 'spying for the west.'" | The political reporter continued, "So, once and for all, come out and say that we should cut off our contacts with the outside world and become like the citizens of North Korea. They [the government] know that we will not do such things. That is why they call contacts with age-old self-exiled friends 'spying for the west.'" |
| On January 22, Prosecutor-General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, spokesman for the judiciary, said, "According to information that reached me from reliable sources, regretfully, a number of journalists aside from wielding their pens in national newspapers hold hands with the westerners and the counter-revolution." He added: "Should, by chance, such a person be detained, it would be a person who has betrayed his or her country and people, and has joined the counter-revolution which is based abroad." | On January 22, Prosecutor-General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, spokesman for the judiciary, said, "According to information that reached me from reliable sources, regretfully, a number of journalists aside from wielding their pens in national newspapers hold hands with the westerners and the counter-revolution." He added: "Should, by chance, such a person be detained, it would be a person who has betrayed his or her country and people, and has joined the counter-revolution which is based abroad." |
| All this happens in the wake of the 1 January announcement by Ahmad Ali Monsenzadeh, general director of the legal office of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance, that the government had prepared a comprehensive bill on general media regulations, under which the detention and flogging of media activists would be eliminated. | All this happens in the wake of the 1 January announcement by Ahmad Ali Monsenzadeh, general director of the legal office of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance, that the government had prepared a comprehensive bill on general media regulations, under which the detention and flogging of media activists would be eliminated. |
| "I believe they are planning on something big, concerning negotiations with the west vis-à-vis the nuclear programme, so they wanted to feel secure and muzzle the internal press," one media activist speculated. | "I believe they are planning on something big, concerning negotiations with the west vis-à-vis the nuclear programme, so they wanted to feel secure and muzzle the internal press," one media activist speculated. |
| In an interview conducted at his home, a middle-aged political activist close to the Green Movement said: "We've had arrests in the course of the three days - it's just like the days after the June 2009 presidential elections up to the Ashura protests of December that year. Detentions of journalists, day after day - I don't think this trend can continue. | In an interview conducted at his home, a middle-aged political activist close to the Green Movement said: "We've had arrests in the course of the three days - it's just like the days after the June 2009 presidential elections up to the Ashura protests of December that year. Detentions of journalists, day after day - I don't think this trend can continue. |
| "Tuesday is a holiday, the birth of Muhammad, so I think they will resume on Wednesday." | "Tuesday is a holiday, the birth of Muhammad, so I think they will resume on Wednesday." |
| He showed the Tehran Bureau an article published online by Reza Seradj, a political pundit close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One passage leapt out: "The domination regime, lead by the United States, is trying to use covert operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran and cause instability...whose focal point is the June 2013 presidential election. This scheme contemplates the fusion of various models already implemented in other countries and the strengthening of weak points of the 2009 sedition." That last term, "sedition," is the Iranian leadership's routine epithet for the Green Movement. | He showed the Tehran Bureau an article published online by Reza Seradj, a political pundit close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One passage leapt out: "The domination regime, lead by the United States, is trying to use covert operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran and cause instability...whose focal point is the June 2013 presidential election. This scheme contemplates the fusion of various models already implemented in other countries and the strengthening of weak points of the 2009 sedition." That last term, "sedition," is the Iranian leadership's routine epithet for the Green Movement. |
| The political activist continued, "The moves played out by the regime against journalists is the first step in clamping down the atmosphere prior to the election. They are struggling to keep control of the game. Khamenei will not tolerate another surprise like the one in 2009." | The political activist continued, "The moves played out by the regime against journalists is the first step in clamping down the atmosphere prior to the election. They are struggling to keep control of the game. Khamenei will not tolerate another surprise like the one in 2009." |
| He took a sip of tea and said with a wry smile, "Of course, this is what they imagine, like the last efforts of a drowning victim." | He took a sip of tea and said with a wry smile, "Of course, this is what they imagine, like the last efforts of a drowning victim." |
| Pari, a 55-year-old homemaker waiting for a train at the Haft-e Tir metro station, agreed with the political activist. Linking the journalists' arrests to a string of other recent human rights abuses, she argued that "all of the regime's efforts...speak to the same thing: in their rush, with no time left, they are tripping on their own heels. They have no confidence in any base of support among the people and fear the encroaching challenges of society-wide unrest. They are trying to scare us, but every sign reveals their fears." | Pari, a 55-year-old homemaker waiting for a train at the Haft-e Tir metro station, agreed with the political activist. Linking the journalists' arrests to a string of other recent human rights abuses, she argued that "all of the regime's efforts...speak to the same thing: in their rush, with no time left, they are tripping on their own heels. They have no confidence in any base of support among the people and fear the encroaching challenges of society-wide unrest. They are trying to scare us, but every sign reveals their fears." |
| Early Wednesday, a journalist at Etemad who was present during the raid three days earlier, described what happened. "[The security agents] arrived sometime after 7am. They rounded up into the conference hall, and by request of Hazrati, managing director or the daily, they took Sassan [Aghaei], Nasrin [Takhayori], and Javad [Dalirei] to Hazrati's office. Hazrati had asked the agents to dial the judge who had issued the warrants so that he could talk to him and arrange to appear the next morning. That took a while, but they couldn't find the judge. | Early Wednesday, a journalist at Etemad who was present during the raid three days earlier, described what happened. "[The security agents] arrived sometime after 7am. They rounded up into the conference hall, and by request of Hazrati, managing director or the daily, they took Sassan [Aghaei], Nasrin [Takhayori], and Javad [Dalirei] to Hazrati's office. Hazrati had asked the agents to dial the judge who had issued the warrants so that he could talk to him and arrange to appear the next morning. That took a while, but they couldn't find the judge. |
| "The interactions were very polite. They didn't say much; we didn't know who they were and what they wanted, or why they had come. We were all dazed. They announced names when they stepped in: 'These are the ones we want.'" | "The interactions were very polite. They didn't say much; we didn't know who they were and what they wanted, or why they had come. We were all dazed. They announced names when they stepped in: 'These are the ones we want.'" |
| He said that the staff members present were very agitated. "As for me, I totally lost it. I had never seen anyone detained in a paper's editorial [office] and taken away in front of me, let alone three people." | He said that the staff members present were very agitated. "As for me, I totally lost it. I had never seen anyone detained in a paper's editorial [office] and taken away in front of me, let alone three people." |
| But he says that Takhayori, Dalirei, and Aghaei demonstrated great composure, "I think they were solid and strong. I was so upset that I can't really recall much. I think I wouldn't be like this if they had detained myself." He concludes, "To watch your friends being taken away, it is devastating." | But he says that Takhayori, Dalirei, and Aghaei demonstrated great composure, "I think they were solid and strong. I was so upset that I can't really recall much. I think I wouldn't be like this if they had detained myself." He concludes, "To watch your friends being taken away, it is devastating." |
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