Iran steps up activist, journalist arrests in protest crackdown

Iran steps up activist, journalist arrests in protest crackdown

Activists say the arrests, on top of internet restrictions, are aimed at preventing the outside world from hearing about the protests against Amini's death
Activists say the arrests, on top of internet restrictions, are aimed at preventing the outside world from hearing about the protests against Amini's death. Photo: Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!

Iran is stepping up arrests of activists and journalists in a crackdown against civil society as anti-regime protests rage nationwide, activists say.

Twenty journalists have been imprisoned since the protests erupted earlier this month over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested by the country's notorious morality police, according to the Washington-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Numerous activists and lawyers have also been held, including the prominent freedom of speech campaigner Hossein Ronaghi who was arrested over the weekend.

The arrests come on top of severe internet restrictions and blocking of sites including Instagram and WhatsApp, which activists say is aimed at preventing details of the protests from reaching the outside world.

"By targeting journalists amid a great deal of violence after restricting access to WhatsApp and Instagram, the Iranian authorities are sending a clear message that there must be no coverage of the protests," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

Read also

Thousands march to demand justice for Mexico's missing students

'Defending prohibited'

Ronaghi, bitterly critical of Iran's Islamic leadership, said in a video posted at the weekend that he had initially eluded arrest by escaping his flat when agents came for him.

PAY ATTENTION: Never miss breaking news – join Briefly News' Telegram channel!

But he was then detained on Saturday when he went to Tehran's Evin prison to meet prosecutors and was also beaten by security agents, his brother Hassan wrote on Twitter.

His mother told Manoto TV in an interview that Hossein Ronaghi's leg was broken.

The arrests come on top of severe internet restrictions and blocking of sites including Instagram and WhatsApp
The arrests come on top of severe internet restrictions and blocking of sites including Instagram and WhatsApp. Photo: - / AFP
Source: AFP

Reports said that his lawyers, who accompanied him to Evin, had themselves been detained.

Two other lawyers have also been arrested, lawyer Saeid Dehghan wrote on Twitter.

"This means defending protesters is prohibited!" he said.

Security forces on Monday raided the home of activist and writer Golrokh Iraee and arrested her, according to a message on her Twitter account.

Read also

Iran steps up arrests of activists, journalists

Iraee, well known for campaigning against stoning sentences in Iran, has spent much of the past decade behind bars.

And activist Majid Tavakoli, who has been repeatedly imprisoned in Iran in recent years including after disputed 2009 elections, remains in jail after his arrest in the early hours of Friday.

'We are not safe'

Activists said two university students in their early 20s who were also beginning careers as writers -- Banafsheh Kamali and Maedeh Jamal -- had also been arrested.

Videos posted on social media claimed to show the moment Jamal was arrested, with a female voice heard yelling for help.

Among the 20 journalists held, according to the CPJ, are photojournalist Yalda Moaiery, who won international recognition for an iconic 2019 photo of protests, and reporter Nilufar Hamedi -- who exposed the case of Amini by going to the hospital where she was in a coma.

Read also

Police clash with Iran protesters in London and Paris

Crowds in cities including Vienna held demonstrations to show support for Iranian protestors
Crowds in cities including Vienna held demonstrations to show support for Iranian protestors. Photo: JOE KLAMAR / AFP
Source: AFP

Hamedi's husband wrote on Twitter that Hamedi had said in a call from jail that she was in solitary confinement, and was unaware of the charges against her.

Moaiery is being held in the notorious Qarchak women's prison outside Tehran, from where she told the Iran Wire news website that "we are not safe here" and "the situation is very bad".

The authorities also arrested five prominent members of the Bahai religious minority in different cities across the country, said Diane Alai, representative of the Bahai International Community to the UN in Geneva.

The Bahai -- Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority but not recognised in the Islamic Republic -- had already been experiencing a crackdown even before the protests started, with senior figures arrested and homes destroyed.

Activists had accused the Iranian authorities of being in the throes of a crackdown even before the protests began. Two of the country's most acclaimed filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof were among those arrested.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.