Louise Bernard, edited by Ophelie Arthaud
modified to
10:16 a.m., October 31, 2022
Journalist Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad, of Iranian origin but living in France, has been imprisoned in Iran since the end of September. He was reporting on the protests affecting the country since the death of Mahsa Amini for the Arte channel. The latter shared “the deep concern of those close to her” and wished her “rapid release”.
Journalist Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad, of Iranian origin but who lived in France, has been imprisoned in Iran since the end of September. He had just graduated from a French journalism school and had gone to report in Iran for Arte, to cover the demonstrations that have shaken the country since the death of the young Mahsa Amini on September 16. The channel simply indicates that the journalist has been detained in Tehran for a month and is under investigation, without giving further details.
Arte specifies that he worked on the spot “in perfect transparency vis-à-vis the authorities” of Tehran. Important information, especially since the journalist had also given them the letter of accreditation from Arte and the details of his French press card. Arte says it shares “the deep concern of those close to it” and wishes for its “rapid release”.
20 journalists detained in Iran
Especially since he is not the only journalist detained in the country: more than 20 journalists are in detention in Iran and others have been summoned by the authorities. This angers their colleagues. 300 Iranian journalists and photojournalists signed a statement. They call for the release of the journalists and accuse the authorities of “having deprived them of their citizenship rights”, in particular by not allowing them to have access to their lawyers. “They were interrogated and charged before any public hearing,” they explain.
An Iranian intelligence report released on Friday accused journalists who covered Mahsa Amini’s death of being “foreign intelligence agents”. To which the 300 journalists replied that they were simply exercising their profession: “Our society has the right to be quickly informed of everything that takes place without censorship or filtering and it also has the right to question any person or institution guilty of incompetence, corruption and violations of law”.