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Alert

Business journalist Ali Farahbakhsh gets three years in prison on "spying" charge; two more journalists arrested

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of freelance business journalist Ali Farahbakhsh, who was convicted of spying in a parody of a trial on 26 March 2007 and was sentenced to three years in prison and an exorbitant fine.

"The same day that the UN Human Rights Council decided not to examine the situation in Iran, a journalist was the victim of the Islamic Republic's repression," the press freedom organisation said. "A total of six journalists are now in prison in Iran and are being held in very harsh conditions."

A Tehran revolutionary court sentenced Farahbakhsh to three years in prison and a fine of 52,000 euros on a charge of spying. He was arrested on 27 November 2006 on his return to Tehran from a trip to Bangkok, where he took part in a conference on the news media that was organised by Thai NGOs.

The authorities held Farahbakhsh incommunicado and in solitary confinement for 40 days, until the Union of Journalists revealed what had happened to him. His family had been ordered not to talk about his arrest, which was only confirmed on 7 January 2007 by Tehran prison system director Sohrabe Soleymani. According to several sources, he has a stomach ulcer that is not being properly treated.

Farahbakhsh has been a contributor to several pro-reform newspapers, including "Yas-e no" and "Shargh" (which are now closed) and the daily newspaper "Sarmayeh".

A recommendation "not to pursue the examination of the situation" in Iran and Uzbekistan was accepted by the UN Human Rights Council during a closed-door meeting in Geneva on 26 March. The recommendation came from a group of five member states charged with monitoring human rights situations around the world.

Reporters Without Borders has meanwhile learned of the arrests of two journalists, of whom there has been no word since 10 March. Mansur Teyfuri of the weekly "Ashiti" was arrested in the Marivan region near the border with Iraq. Mohamad Bagher Abassi Samali, the editor of the weekly "Salam Jonob" ("Hello South"), was arrested in Bushehr after saying "even the Prophet of Islam could make mistakes." Several demonstrations have been staged outside his newspaper, which has been closed down since his arrest.