Let jailed reporters see family, Germany urges Iran

AFP: Germany’s foreign minister called on Iran to allow two jailed journalists to see their families, who have travelled to Tehran in the hope of a Christmas visit, in an interview published Sunday.

BERLIN (AFP) — Germany’s foreign minister called on Iran to allow two jailed journalists to see their families, who have travelled to Tehran in the hope of a Christmas visit, in an interview published Sunday.

“I would like to express what I am expecting: a meeting with their families still during the Christmas period,” Guido Westerwelle told Bild am Sonntag.

December 26 is part of the Christmas holiday in Germany.

Family of the two journalists, who worked for Bild am Sonntag, travelled to Tehran on Friday, but their hopes of seeing them have not been realised, the newspaper reported.

Last week Westerwelle urged Tehran to grant clemency to the journalists, who have been held for more than two months.

Bild am Sonntag said its two employees, who have not been named, travelled to Iran to investigate the case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

They were arrested on October 10 in Tabriz in northwest Iran together with Mohammadi-Ashtiani’s son and the family’s lawyer.

Iran says the two entered the country on tourist visas and failed to obtain accreditation from the authorities for journalistic work.