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Alert

More journalists arrested, others released

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has learned that Kambiz Norrozi, the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists' legal committee, was arrested on 28 June 2009 and that "Farhikhteghan" reporter Esmail Hagh Parast was arrested on 22 June. Mojtaba Teherani, a journalist with the website Sahamnewes (http://www.etemademelli.ir ), was arrested on the evening of 27 June as he was leaving the newspaper offices. Intelligence ministry agents searched his home the next day, confiscating his computer and CD-Rom archives.

Other journalists and Association of Iranian Journalists representatives were summoned for questioning last week by the Tehran revolutionary court or the intelligence ministry, including Badorsadat Mofidi, the association's secretary-general, and spokesperson Mashalah Shamssolvazein. Although interrogated, they were not detained.

Reporters Without Borders has learned of the release of more than 20 journalists and media workers. Alireza Behshti, who works with opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and 22 employees of the newspaper "Kalemeh Sabz", who were arrested on 22 June, were freed on 28 June. Three of the newspaper's news editors are still being detained.

Karim Arghandeh, who writes for the pro-reform newspapers "Salam" and "Vaghieh Etafaghieh" and who keeps a blog (http://www.futurama.ir/), was also released on 28 June. Until then, there had been no news of him since 14 June.