Member of Parliament Requests Larijani to Free Media Activists

Elias Hazrati, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, on Tuesday, April 15, asked Ali Larijani, the head of the legislative branch, to use his position to secure the release of detained media activists and managers of Telegram channels. Concurrently, Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the 'Hope Fraction', urged the judiciary to resolve the issue of the 'detention of reformist channel admins' on Telegram. In the last month of the previous year, managers of several Telegram channels and a number of journalists, including Morad Zaghfi, Ehsan Mazandarani, and Hengameh Shahidi, were arrested. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Hazrati, in his letter to Larijani, referred to the detention of several media activists and Telegram channel managers in the last week of Esfand 1395 (March 2017) and noted that no information or news has been published about the reasons for these arrests and the authority responsible for them. This parliament member quoted 'informed sources' stating that the motivation for the arrests is 'definitely political' and added: 'All these Telegram channel admins and media activists belong to a political current.' Hazrati also pointed out that the families of the detainees have no information about the reasons for their arrests and 'have not been able to meet or contact them, which has increased their anxiety.' He added that 'as a media activist and as a reformist political force and based on the dignity and responsibility of parliamentary representation,' he does not consider silence regarding these arrests acceptable. He urged the Speaker of Parliament to use his position to secure the release of the detained individuals. This parliament member asked Larijani to invite the relevant authorities involved in these arrests to explain to the parliament members why these individuals were detained and what the purpose of shutting down reformist Telegram channels on the eve of the presidential election was. He also demanded to know 'who is responsible for the detention of these media activists, which security agency currently holds them, how the process of addressing their charges is proceeding, and whether the civil rights of the detainees are being respected.' This parliament member's letter to Larijani was published one day after the comments made by the Attorney General of Iran. According to the state news agency IRNA, Mohammad Javad Montazeri announced on Monday, April 14, that the virtual space would be 'monitored' during the presidential elections and threatened that those who 'intend to disrupt the election atmosphere' would be dealt with, and websites that 'defame and insult' would be filtered. He stated: 'Creating a healthy electoral atmosphere, ensuring election security, and dealing with criminals and individuals who intend to disrupt the election atmosphere are among our duties that we will not neglect.' The Attorney General of Iran also requested prosecutors across the country to 'monitor the virtual space moment by moment and take appropriate and legal action immediately upon observing any violations.' For several months, security officials and the judiciary have reported on 'monitoring the virtual space' and other measures to combat 'electoral crimes' and potential unrest. Aref: The Judiciary Must Quickly Resolve Issues Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the reformist faction in parliament, known as the 'Hope Fraction', also on Tuesday, in an interview with ILNA news agency, referred to the 'necessity of cooperation between security institutions and the people' and added: 'The expectation from the judiciary and relevant institutions is to quickly resolve these issues so that the virtual space and the political situation of the country are not harmed.' Aref stated that 'it would have been better if the admins of the Telegram channels had not been arrested' and said: 'All these Telegram channel admins and media activists belonged to a political current.' Previously, Hesamoddin Ashna, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani, and several members of the reformist faction in parliament, known as the 'Hope Fraction', have reacted to these arrests and linked them to the presidential election of 1396 (2017). Additionally, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in parliament, on March 18, 1395 (March 2017), in a letter to Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that the arrest of managers of several political Telegram channels has sparked a wave of concern regarding the 'non-commitment' to the promise of non-interference by this institution in the elections. Following these protests, the presidential website reported on April 6 that Hassan Rouhani had asked the Minister of Interior to prepare a report on the 'suspicious' detention of several media activists ahead of the elections and to prevent the 'illegal' interference of certain institutions in the elections.