Yaghma Fakhshami, a political reporter for the Roozan daily, was arrested two days after Iranian authorities banned the newspaper.
ILNA reports that Fakhshami was arrested on December 24 and is now in Evin Prison.
The Roozan daily was shut down on Monday December 22 by the order of the Tehran prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor’s order, which was forwarded to Culture Minister Ali Jannati, gives no indication as to the issue or the actual article that prompted the shutdown of the daily.
Newspaper director Shamsi PourMohammadi had been quoted as saying that the Ministry of Culture and Guidance is not in agreement with the move. He said the order is probably connected to Roozan’s report on Saturday December 20 regarding the late Ayatollah Montazeri, a popular member of the clergy and staunch government critic who was under house arrest for many years for his opposition to government policies, specifically the execution of dissidents.
Roozan entered its 20th year of publication last year. It was published in Khuzestan for 15 years and then moved to national distribution in the last five years.
