MohammadJavad Rouh, a staff editor at the Mehrnameh monthly magazine, was arrested by Iranian authorities at his home on Sunday March 4.
In the past month, the Intelligence Ministry has ordered the arrest of close to 20 journalists. While some have been released on bail, others remain in custody.
The Intelligence Ministry has announced that it has uncovered a network of anti-regime reporters and journalists whose “central nucleus” is abroad, working in collaboration with Persian-language media based outside Iran.
MohammadJavad Rouh is a former member of the Association for the Defence of Prisoner Rights and the Islamic Iran Participation Front. He has worked with the Iranian Labour News Agency as well as the reformist dailies Norooz and Yas-e No.
The Intelligence Ministry had announced that in the course of its investigations it may arrest more journalists.
Human rights groups have condemned the wave of journalist arrests in Iran. Even Ali Motahari, a conservative MP, has slammed the process, claiming that the sense of insecurity it causes among members of the press is not in the country’s best interests, especially ahead of the fast-approaching presidential elections.
