The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has issued a statement condemning the Islamic Republic’s “campaign of intimidation against journalists and their family members,” especially concerning employees of Persian BBC.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Campaign called for an immediate halt to the actions against journalists and their families by the Iranian judiciary and security services. It condemned the “illegal coercion of detainees” and expressed grave concern over “the videotaping of false confessions and the possibility of politically motivated broadcasts ahead of the 2 March 2012 parliamentary elections.”
A spokesman for the Campaign, Hadi Ghaemi, said: “Harassing journalists, activists, and their family members shows the inhumane and unlawful practices the Iranian intelligence services use to silence these people. Any televised confession by these detainees released in the run-up to the March parliamentary election would likely be politically motivated and false.”
In the past month, at least nine independent journalists and writers have been arrested, while some family members of Iranian journalists working outside Iran have been subjected to persecution in Iran.
Yesterday, the head of Persian BBC reported the arrest and intimidation of a family member of one of its staff.
Persian BBC has also called on all human rights and international organizations to condemn these actions and to pressure Iranian authorities to halt such policies.
