Journalists Arrested in Iran: Three Female Reporters Detained Within Two Days According to Reports
In the past 48 hours, three women journalists - Melika Hashemi, Saideh Shafiei, and Mehrnoush Zarei - have been detained in Tehran, Iran. The exact reasons for their apprehension remain unclear.
These arrests come amidst a wave of detentions in the country, with approximately 80 reporters having been jailed over the past four months. The majority of those arrested are being held in Evin prison.
Melika Hashemi works for the outlet named Shahr, while Saideh Shafiei is an independent journalist and storyteller. Mehrnoush Zarei, on the other hand, writes for numerous reformist magazines.
The ongoing protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, are classified by authorities as "troubles" caused by the "adversaries" of the Islamic republic. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained by the morality police for allegedly breaching the nation's stringent outfit code for women.
The Tehran journalists' union, as reported by the reformist newspaper Etemad, has made claims regarding these arrests. Authorities in Iran have reported numerous deaths and thousands of arrests during the protests.
In late October, more than 300 Iranian journalists signed a declaration criticizing the authorities for "jailing colleagues and removing them of their rights."
For more detailed and up-to-date information about these journalists and their current situations, it is recommended to consult authoritative human rights and press freedom organizations such as the Iran Human Rights Monitor (HRANA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), or Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). These organizations frequently report on arrests of journalists in Iran.
- The detention of Melika Hashemi, Saideh Shafiei, and Mehrnoush Zarei in Tehran seems to be part of a broader crackdown on journalism, as approximately 80 reporters have been jailed in the past four months, primarily in Evin prison.
- The ongoing wave of arrests of journalists in Iran, such as the recent detention of Hashemi, Shafiei, and Zarei, have raised concerns about the state of news freedom, with many reformist journalists writing about general-news, politics, and crime-and-justice facing repression.
