Continued Arrests of Political and Civil Activists; Editor of 'Goftogu' Magazine Arrested

Reports from Iran indicate that the wave of arrests of political and civil activists continues in the last days of the year 1395 (March 2017), and on Wednesday, March 25, Morad Saghafi, the editor-in-chief of Goftogu magazine, was arrested at his home. Hamid Zargar, Mr. Saghafi's former lawyer, told ILNA news agency that no explanation was given to his family regarding the reason for the journalist's arrest, and only Mr. Saghafi contacted his family on Thursday, confirming that he was in detention. Mr. Zargar also stated that due to the closure of the prosecutor's office, he has not yet been able to declare his representation in this case. It is still unclear which organization arrested this political activist and for what reason. In addition to editing Goftogu, Morad Saghafi is the director of Shirazeh Publishing and the head of the NGO 'Dar Shahr'. Morad Saghafi is also the nephew of Khadijeh Saghafi, the wife of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. On March 19, he had criticized the 'widespread corruption' in Tehran's municipality during a meeting titled 'People's City Council: Opportunities and Limitations'. In this speech, Mr. Saghafi emphasized that urban management should 'move towards taxes and municipal fees rather than selling the city', criticizing the trend of density selling by Tehran's municipality. He stated: 'The only income that directly reaches the municipality is from selling density and violations. As a result, it is considered sweet money for the municipality and is not reported to anyone. The city council can address various issues such as welfare, education, etc., but it does not.' The editor of Goftogu magazine added: 'Power is in the hands of one person, the mayor, without control, and he can ignore national interests as they do today. If 10% of the municipality's budget were spent to exit the recession, it would have significant results; this solution leads to privatization and tyranny.' In recent days, reports have emerged about the arrest of 12 managers of reformist or government-supporting Telegram channels, including Ali Ahmadnia, the manager of the Reform News Telegram channel. Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of the parliament, warned the Minister of Intelligence on Wednesday regarding the arrests of these individuals and the re-imprisonment of Ehsan Mazandarani, the former editor of Farhikhtegan newspaper, threatening to impeach him. Ehsan Mazandarani, who had recently been released from prison, was arrested again on Sunday when the forces of the IRGC Intelligence Organization stormed his home. The Tehran prosecutor announced that the reason for his arrest was to fully execute a two-year prison sentence; however, Mr. Mazandarani's lawyer and wife published documents indicating that his sentence had ended, and he was released on February 23. Meanwhile, Maliheh Hosseini, Ehsan Mazandarani's wife, who has also been a journalist for Farhikhtegan newspaper for several years, announced on her Facebook page that she had been fired from the newspaper. Ehsan Mazandarani, in a brief phone call with his family, stated that he had gone on a dry hunger strike since Tuesday in protest against the 'illegal, political, and arbitrary' nature of his detention. Eisa Saharkhiz and Afrin Chitsaz, who were arrested in November 2015 alongside Ehsan Mazandarani, remain imprisoned. On March 19, four days before Ehsan Mazandarani's arrest, Hengameh Shahidi, a journalist and political activist, was arrested in Mashhad and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. On social media, including Twitter, a handwritten note from her last writing before her arrest was published. In her note, Hengameh Shahidi stated that she had received warnings from 'some media and individuals close to the government' regarding the possibility of her arrest. She announced that there was no reason for her arrest unless there was a 'project' for the 'widespread arrest of political activists and journalists' before the presidential elections. She threatened that if arrested, she would go on a hunger strike from the very first moment in protest against the 'illegal practice of restricting journalists and political activists' in Iran. Tahereh Riahi, the social service editor of the Borna news agency, which is affiliated with the government, was also arrested on December 27 by 'agents of the Ministry of Intelligence' and is reportedly still imprisoned. Meanwhile, several websites reported on January 24 that Zeinab Karimi, a former journalist for IRNA and Mehr news agencies and a collaborator on a television program, and Saleh Deldam, a young cinema producer and director, were also arrested. In this context, Motahari threatened to impeach the Minister of Intelligence due to the 'arrest of 12 Telegram managers'.