Organization for the Defense of Free Information: Prosecution of Iranian Journalists Increased by 40% in One Month

The Organization for the Defense of Free Information published its monthly statistical report, the second issue of which was released at the end of February 2024, documenting instances of media suppression, journalists, and citizen journalists in Iran from February 1 to 29. According to the report, the second month of 2024 was marked by the continued imprisonment of at least seven journalists and media activists, including Nasim Soltaniyegi, Vida Rabani, and Saeedeh Shafiei in the women’s section of Evin Prison, Soltan Ali Abedi and Abubakar Tawhidi in Zahedan Prison, Ebrahim Rashidi in Meshginshahr Prison, and Kamyar Fakour in Evin Prison. From February 1 to 29, at least 35 journalists and media managers, including 26 men and 9 women, faced legal prosecution. The number of prosecutions of Iranian journalists and media managers in February increased by 40% compared to the same month last year. The statistics and events recorded in this report only include data that the organization was able to collect, verify, and document, emphasizing that the actual figures are higher than what has been presented. In the cases and judgments issued, 'spreading falsehoods with the aim of disturbing public opinion' was the most frequently cited accusation against media activists, mentioned 14 times. Other accusations against journalists and media activists included propaganda against the regime, defamation, uncovering classified documents, insult, and conspiracy to act against national security. According to the monthly report from the Organization for the Defense of Free Information, security and judicial institutions of the Islamic Republic violated the legal rights of journalists who faced prosecution at least 35 times over the past month. Violations included holding closed trials, confiscating property without legal orders, preventing detained journalists from meeting their families, denying them access to lawyers, and issuing judgments without conducting trials. The report notes that February was a turbulent month for the media, encompassing the ongoing war in Gaza, the 45th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the controversial examination of candidates for the twelfth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts, and the widespread publication of hacked documents and data from Tehran's judicial systems. The report highlights several instances of harassment against journalists and media activists in the past month, including the arrest of Sepehr Shirani, a 19-year-old citizen journalist from Zahedan, on Bahman 10, whose lifeless body was found on the roof of his apartment two days after his arrest, showing signs of torture, whipping, and bruising all over his body, with his right arm broken. Another instance mentioned was the entry of Islamic Republic security forces into the editorial office of the newspaper 'Fardaye Eqtesad' on Bahman 16, during which the mobile phones of all editorial staff and employees were confiscated, and they were prevented from leaving the building for hours. Only after the families of the newspaper's staff gathered in front of the Kian building and the event became public did some journalists gradually get released, but three remain detained and in limbo. The monthly report from the Organization for the Defense of Free Information also refers to the hacking of the archives of the Islamic Republic's judiciary by the hacking group 'Justice Ali,' which claimed to have obtained millions of documents regarding the judicial prosecutions of citizens, including dozens of legal cases against several journalists from Persian-language media outside Iran, including some journalists from the Persian section of Voice of America, who were sent to the 'Criminal Enforcement Branch of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office in Tehran' with the announced punishment of 'prison sentence' for 'propaganda against the regime.' A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department responded to the issuance of absentia sentences for several Voice of America journalists, stating that such behavior from the Iranian government, known for its media suppression worldwide, is 'not surprising.' This spokesperson told the Persian section of Voice of America: 'The intimidation of journalists abroad by the Iranian regime and the suppression of media inside is well known to the world.' The Organization for the Defense of Free Information stated in its monthly report that reviewing the documents published by the group 'Justice Ali' and comparing them with the data that this organization has documented regarding the suppression of media and Iranian journalists highlights once again the 'extralegal and organized mechanisms' of the Islamic Republic for 'targeted disruption' of citizens' free access to information and the harassment of journalists by security institutions and their extralegal prosecutions aimed at preventing the 'disclosure of truth' and challenging the official and often fabricated narratives of the Islamic Republic. The suppression of journalists in the Islamic Republic is not a new phenomenon, but pressure on journalists in Iran and the detention of some of them intensified with the onset of nationwide protests at the end of Shahrivar 1401, leading to the arrest of dozens of journalists and photojournalists, and continues to this day. According to the Reporters Without Borders report on media freedom published on Ordibehesht 13 of this year, Iran ranks 177th among 180 countries in the world.