Chomsky calls on Iran to release imprisoned journalist Marzieh Rasouli

The US philosopher Noam Chomsky has called on Iran to release the female journalist Marzieh Rasouli who was jailed last week to endure a sentence of 50 lashes and two years in prison.

Chomsky told the Guardian that the detention of Rasouli and at least three other female journalists in the past two months was "entirely unacceptable", urging Hassan Rouhani's administration to swiftly act for their release. Saba Azarpeik and Reyhaneh Tabatabaei are among other journalists arrested recently.

"I was surprised and distressed to learn of the detention and harsh treatment of Marzieh Rasouli and other women journalists in Iran," Chomsky told the Guardian. "Surely such actions are entirely unacceptable, and I hope and trust that they will quickly be released and compensated for their unjust punishment."

At the time Rouhani is improving relations with the west, Iran's judiciary, which is independent of his government, together with the country's intelligence and security apparatus have launched a new wave of arrests of journalists. Activists said another female reporter, Sajedeh Arabsorkhi, was also summoned to serve her one-year jail term.

On the case of Reyhaneh Tabatabaei, the international campaign for human rights in Iran (ICHRI), said she was summoned to Tehran's notorious Evin prison in June to serve her six-month sentence.

Rasouli, who has written for a number of reformist publications including Shargh and Etemaad newspapers, was jailed after a supreme court upheld her conviction on the charges of "spreading propaganda" against the ruling system and "disturbing the public order", vague charges used by the Iranian authorities in recent years against activists and journalists.

Reporters Without Borders also condemned Rasouli's jailing in Iran and reported that, with a total of 64 journalists and bloggers in prison, Iran has become one of the world's worst enemies of the media.

This is not the first time Rasouli has been locked up behind bars. "Originally detained on 18 January 2012 and placed in solitary confinement in section 2A of Evin prison, a wing managed by the Revolutionary Guards, she had been freed on bail of 300 million toman (350,000 euros)," said RWB.

Before being summoned to prison, Rasouli's friends and colleagues took her out for dinner to wish her well, according to messages posted on Twitter.

theguardian.com