Keyvan Rahimi, Manager of Telegram Channel 'Persman Saqez', Arrested Again

Human rights sources have reported the re-arrest of Keyvan Rahimi, a media activist and social activist from Saqez. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Saqez intelligence forces arrested Keyvan Rahimi and his brother Kamran Rahimi on Tuesday, April 29. The report states that Kamran Rahimi was released after a few hours. No information has been published regarding the charges against Keyvan Rahimi, his place of detention, or his conditions. This media activist was also arrested last October due to his activities on social networks, including managing the Telegram channel 'Persman Saqez'. Another manager of the Telegram channel 'Persman Saqez', Mostafa Hamdi, was also arrested about twenty days ago. According to Hengaw, the charge against this journalist is 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran'. Mostafa Hamdi and Keyvan Rahimi have a history of summons and arrest due to their activities. News sources in recent weeks have reported a new wave of pressure on local journalists, including the arrest of two media activists in the cities of Urmia and Javanrud. Rasool Goleban, a journalist residing in Urmia, and Iraj Mohammadzadeh, a media activist from Javanrud in Kermanshah province, have recently been arrested. Reporters Without Borders has assessed the Islamic Republic as 'one of the most repressive governments in the world' in terms of media freedom and ranked Iran 177th out of 180 countries in terms of freedom of expression in its report. The International Federation of Journalists also announced in its latest report that since the onset of the nationwide protests in 2022 until the end of 2023, at least seven publications and news outlets have been suspended, closed, or had their licenses revoked due to 'pressure from security agencies or judicial orders'. The continued detention of Mehdi Afsharnik, an economic journalist, despite the prosecutor's agreement to release him on bail, has been reported alongside the arrests of several local journalists in Iran, indicating the start of a new wave of pressure on media activists. The 'Defense of Free Information' organization reported that the Islamic Republic has pursued 91 journalists, media outlets, and media activists in three months. The continued security pressures on journalists have led the editor-in-chief of the monthly 'Nadaestan' to state that he prefers closure to suicide.