Iran steps up journalists’ arrests as mass protests spread

CPJ has learned from reliable sources inside Iran that at least 20 journalists were arrested this week as clashes between security forces and protesters over the death in morality-police custody of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, left dozens dead. 

Details of the arrests are sparse following a near-total internet blackout and reports of major disruptions to phone networks and social media networks, but include prominent Iranian photojournalists Yalda Moaiery and Ahmadreza Halabisaz.

“Iranian authorities should be ashamed of themselves for orchestrating this brutal crackdown. They have proved their failure to grasp that suppressing dissenting voices only compounds dissent,” CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator Sherif Mansour said. “Authorities must stop arresting those covering the protests and immediately release those in custody.”