The Bank Accounts of Aliyeh Matlabi, Photojournalist and Civil Activist, Were Frozen

Aliyeh Matlabi, a photojournalist and civil activist, announced the freezing of her bank accounts in a post on social media platform X. According to Matlabi, this action occurred hours after she was summoned by the Cyber Police of Karaj on Wednesday, despite her request for a formal written notification and the fact that Wednesday was a public holiday. In another post, Matlabi reminded that the Cyber Police of Karaj summoned her while she resides in Tehran. Matlabi is among the civil activists who expressed solidarity with striking prisoners protesting executions in Iran last February. In May of last year, security agents searched Matlabi's home and confiscated some of her personal belongings, during which there was a physical altercation between this civil activist and the agents. Additionally, it is noted that Matlabi was summoned to Evin Prosecutor's Office after the Supreme Leader's 'amnesty' directive, but was later summoned again through two separate notifications. Her summoning follows the arrests of several participants in the two-day virtual meeting 'Dialogue for the Rescue of Iran,' which included 42 individuals with diverse political and ideological views, 23 from inside Iran and 19 from abroad. As one of the speakers on the second day of this conference, Matlabi stated that the 'power of the Islamic Republic' is based on 'suppressing the people,' asserting that 'the government is fundamentally corrupt, having achieved nothing but deepening poverty, inequality, and discrimination, while spending a large portion of the plundered wealth of the people on equipping its repressive machinery.' She urged the people of Iran to voice their hatred and disgust towards the Islamic Republic. The Tehran Court of Appeals rejected a request for conditional release of a journalist, citing 'the necessary punishment for such criminals.' The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Islamic Republic to release Iranian journalist Shirin Saidi. World Press Freedom Day in Iran is overshadowed by monopoly and threats, from the 'kidnapping' of a newsroom to increased pressure on journalists. The website 'Iran Watch' was filtered, with the site's manager stating that filtering is carried out by 'Abaravan.' The Tehran Prosecutor's Office announced charges against a journalist for publishing a video of people's reactions to the issuance of a death sentence for Tomaj Salehi.