AFP: An Iranian journalist who worked for the now banned reformist Yas-e No and the centrist Shargh newspapers has been arrested after returning from a conference abroad, an official said Saturday.
TEHRAN, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) – An Iranian journalist who worked for the now banned reformist Yas-e No and the centrist Shargh newspapers has been arrested after returning from a conference abroad, an official said Saturday.
“Ali Farahbakhsh, who worked for Yas-e No and Shargh, was arrested by the authorities 40 days ago, after returning from Thailand where he attended a meeting of civil and social groups,” said the deputy head of the Iranian journalists’ association, Mashallah Shamsolvaezeen.
He added that he had been informed that Farahbakhsh was currently detained at Evin, Tehran’s main prison.
Shamsolvaezeen urged the Iranian authorities to officially and immediately announce the reason for his arrest.
In addition, according to the ISNA news agency, the head of prisons in Tehran province, Sohrabe Soleymani, confirmed Farhabakhksh was currently in prison and was well. He did not give further details.
Iran’s hardline judiciary keeps a tight rein on the press. It has closed scores of titles and detained dozens of journalists since new reformist papers emerged under the rule of former president Mohammad Khatami.
Shargh, the standard bearer of the moderates, was shut down last year and a similar fate hit its successor publication Rozegar for overly resembling the banned newspaper.
