Detained Journalists of 'Fardaye Eghtesad' Transferred to Police Detention Center; Harana: They Are Deprived of Access to a Lawyer

A human rights organization announced that the authorities of the Islamic Republic have transferred four detained journalists from the media outlet 'Fardaye Eghtesad' to the Tehran police detention center. According to Harana, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, on Tuesday, February 13, Mehrdad Asgari, Nikan Khabazi, Ali Tasnimi, and Behzad Bahmannejad, four of the detained journalists from 'Fardaye Eghtesad', who were transferred to an unknown location by government officials after four days of group detention in the editorial building on February 10, have been taken to the police detention center known as Agahi Shapur. Based on this report, these individuals were returned to the media outlet's building on February 12 for 'further interrogation' and were then returned to the same detention center after being searched by intelligence forces. The Harana report emphasizes that 'these individuals are still deprived of access to a lawyer,' and responsible officials are 'refusing to provide clear answers regarding the latest status of their case' to their families. According to previous reports, following the raid on February 5 by Islamic Republic intelligence agents on the editorial office of 'Fardaye Eghtesad', a visual media outlet, government officials confiscated journalists' belongings and prevented them from leaving the building for several hours. Additionally, the arrest of Mehdi Afsharnik, a veteran journalist, was reported; news that the 'Etemad Online' media outlet stated was 'probably' related to February 1. The Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, claimed in response to the news of Mehdi Afsharnik's arrest that 'there are no media or news-related charges in this case,' and the arrest of 'a former economic journalist' and 'the search of the office of a news site' that publishes economic news was conducted for 'reasons completely contrary to journalistic and media activities.' The Islamic Republic has a history of group arrests and crackdowns on media activists. Following the nationwide protests in 2022 in response to the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the 'Guidance Patrol', the Islamic Republic's crackdown on media activists has intensified. The dire economic situation in Iran and social pressures are cited as factors that have sparked a new wave of protests, and intelligence agencies are attempting to manage the situation in various ways. A journalist inside Iran previously told Voice of America, 'With the rapid spread of poverty,' the situation is becoming very similar to 'the Soviet Union in the years leading up to its collapse.'