Iranian security forces arrested Iranian journalist Farshid Ghorbanpour on September 25, 2022.
Ghorbanpour is a political columnist and commentator for the state-run HaftSobh (7Sobh) newspaper. The reporter also owns and operates the Soren Book bookstore in downtown Tehran with his wife Somayeh Nowruzi, a translator and an editor.
According to Journalism Is Not A Crime, an exile-run news website focusing on Iranian journalists, security forces broke open the door of the couple’s home at 3:00 a.m. before pepper spraying and arresting him.
A source who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said that security forces beat Ghorbanpour during the arrest, leaving him with a bleeding head wound.
According to his wife, whose testimony was cited in the Journalism is Not a Crime report, the security forces did not provide an arrest warrant or say where they were taking the journalist. Nor did they disclose to which security unit they belonged.
CPJ was unable to determine what, if any charges Ghorbanpour faces, nor the state of his health in custody.
Ghorbanpour is one of dozens of journalists arrested in Iran amid national protests against the September 16 death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, after morality police arrested her for allegedly violating the country’s conservative dress law. Several journalists have now been released on bail.
CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in late 2022 for comment on the cases of imprisoned Iranian journalists but received no response.