In Iran, the regime's repression continues. The organization Reporters Without Borders reports another wave of arrests of journalists and reporters in the country. Among others, the journalist and human rights activist Aliyeh Motallebzadeh was arrested.

Carlota Brandis

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The apartment of the vice president of the Iranian Association for the Defense of Freedom of the Press was previously searched, evidence was confiscated. An interrogation at Evin Prison in Tehran was followed by her arrest. Motallebzadeh became aware of the authorities because she attended an online conference in April called "Dialogue to Save Iran." The Tehran-based journalist had already been imprisoned for an extended period of time in 2016, 2020 and 2022 for "conspiracy against national security" and "propaganda against the regime".

Three weeks in solitary confinement

Journalist Keyvan Samimi also wanted to attend the same conference before he was arrested by the Iranian authorities a day earlier. He is accused of having made contact with a foreign sect. After three weeks of solitary confinement, the former editor of the magazine "Iran Farda" has also been transferred to Evin prison. Radio journalist Sajjad Shahrabi has also been imprisoned there since the beginning of May. The exact allegations against him are not known. Samimi was only released in January after serving a two-year prison sentence.

According to Reporters Without Borders, this development shows that the authorities want to suppress not only the coverage of the protests following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, but also any debate about possible reforms. "Tehran wants independent media professionals to live in a climate of fear," says CEO Christian Mihr.

Since Jina Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran's morality police last September, the government in Tehran has been suppressing waves of protests by civilians across the country. The protesters accuse the regime of head of state Ali Khamenei of mistreating Amini after her arrest. Amini is said to have worn her headscarf incorrectly. Citizens who publicly join the protest and criticize the government are threatened with punitive measures, arrest and even execution. According to human rights organizations, more than 100 people have been executed since the beginning of this year. In the previous year, at least 500 death sentences had been carried out. At the end of April, the death sentence against the imprisoned German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd was also confirmed by the Supreme Court in Iran.

Since last year's waves of protests, but even before that, independent journalists and media workers have been persecuted by the government in Iran. According to Reporters Without Borders, 75 journalists and reporters have been arrested since the street protests began. 17 of them are still in custody. Even after pardons, they are "harassed, spied on and threatened". After arrests by the Iranian regime had recently decreased, they are now on the rise again, according to Reporters Without Borders. Iran ranks 177th out of 180 nations on the organization's press freedom ranking.