Goudarzi, a veteran journalist for the Committee of Human Rights Reporters who had completed a one-year prison term in December 2010, was seized by suspected government agents in July 2011 and taken to an undisclosed location, the reformist news website Kaleme reported. By October, Kaleme reported, Goudarzi was being held by the Intelligence Ministry.
Numerous journalists working for the Committee of Human Rights Reporters have been detained for varying periods of time since 2009 in connection with their reporting on human rights abuses. The human rights committee said judicial authorities have sought to link the organization to external political parties.
Authorities also targeted Goudarzi’s family and friends. His mother, Parvin Mokhtare, was being held in a prison in Kerman in late year on charges of “insulting the supreme leader” and “giving interviews to foreign media” concerning government harassment of the journalist, Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported. Two of Goudarzi’s friends were briefly detained and later took their own lives, according to news accounts.
The Committee of Human Rights Reporters said Goudarzi was being held in Evin Prison, where he has been denied contact with family members.