In an Iran roiled by protests, journalists face a war of attrition
In mid-September, an enterprising young Iranian reporter named Niloofar Hamedi went to Tehran’s Kasra Hospital to report on a woman arrested by the county’s morality police for not properly wearing her hijab. That woman, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, was in a coma after allegedly being beaten by police; she later died of her injuries. Hamedi, a…
CPJ renews call for Iran to release all jailed journalists amid anti-government protests
New York, November 1, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday renewed its call for Iran to release all journalists behind bars in the country, at least 37 of whom were detained over the past six weeks of anti-government protests, and urged the U.N. Security Council to hold Iran accountable by implementing investigation…
CPJ condemns harassment, bomb threat against Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi
New York, October 20, 2022 — In response to news reports that the University of Chicago received an anonymous bomb threat on Tuesday for hosting an event featuring Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The bomb threat against journalist Negar Mortazavi was a crude attempt at censorship….
Names of journalists arrested in Iran’s anti-state protests
When mass protests swept Iran following the death in morality-police custody of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, CPJ began documenting the names of journalists arrested during the uprising. The crackdown led to Iran’s designation as the world’s worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s 2022 prison census. The list published here includes names based on information…
CPJ’s Yeganeh Rezaian on mass protests and journalist arrests in Iran
When mass protests erupted in Iran more than a week ago, the government cracked down hard. While clashes between security forces and demonstrators left many dead and disruptions to internet service made information hard to obtain, CPJ learned that security forces had arrested at least 28 journalists as of September 29. (Click here for CPJ’s…
Iran arrests at least 20 journalists amid nationwide anti-government protests
Washington D.C., September 26, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to end their crackdown on journalists and release all arrested since the start of anti-government protests last week. “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,”…
Iranian security forces step up arrests of journalists amid anti-state protests
Editor’s note: This report was updated on September 29 to include news of additional arrests. See here for ongoing updates to the list of journalists arrested after that date. Washington, D.C., September 29, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists arrested while covering mass protests around…
Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery arrested during anti-state protests
Washington, D.C., September 20, 2022—Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Yalda Moaiery, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, September 19, Iranian security forces arrested Moaiery, a prominent photojournalist, as she was covering anti-state protests on Hejab street in downtown Tehran, Iran’s capital, she said on Instagram Stories directly after her arrest. (CPJ reviewed her story…
Iranian journalist Mansour Iranpour serving 1-year sentence in Kerman central prison
Washington, D.C., September 14, 2022 — Iranian authorities must release journalist Mansour Iranpour from prison immediately and should cease jailing members of the press for doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On January 16, Judge Moslem Salari of Branch 2 of Jiroft city penal court in Iran’s central Kerman province convicted Iranpour on…
Iranian freelance journalist Hadi Pourbeheshti arrested in Kerman
Washington, D.C., September 2, 2022—Iranian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Hadi Pourbeheshti, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Sunday, August 28, security forces raided Pourbeheshti’s home in the city of Kerman in the southeastern Kerman province, and arrested him while ransacking his house in the presence of his family, according to…