Reporter for Shargh newspaper remains detained

Sam Mahmoud Soraie, a reporter for the Shargh Daily newspaper was arrested on March 1st, after he appeared at the Revolutionary Court. He has been missing since then. One of his relatives told BBC Persian, “Mr. Mahmoudi had a trial date in branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court on Tuesday. After 12:30pm, he stopped answering his cellphone, but then made a brief call to inform us of his arrest.” According to the informed source, there is no information on the reason of arrest or where Mahmoudi Soraie is being held.

“Mr. Mahmoudi was arrested during the 2009 post-election events and a case was opened for him with the judiciary,” the relative added.

In recent months, Ahamad Gholami, Farzaneh Roustayi, Maziar Khosravai, Keyvan Mehregan, and Nohzat Amirabadi, all Shargh Daily journalists, have been arrested. All except Amir Abadi were released on bail.

Many journalists were arrested during the 2009 post-election events; some were released after several months of detention and some still remain in prison.

Some journalists have been sentenced to long prison terms, exile, and ban on political, social and media activities. Such sentences have been condemned by human rights and trade-union organizations.

Reporters without Borders has expressed concern numerous times over the conditions for journalists in Iran.

The Committee in Defense of Journalists, in its most recent data on jailed journalists around the world, announced that Iran and China are the biggest prisons for journalists. This Committee states that the number of jailed journalists in Iran is unprecedented in the last 14 years.

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