I ett pressmeddelande protesterar organisationerna mot att razzior på redaktioner och gripande av redaktionella medarbetare är vardagsmat i Iran idag. Varje antydning till kritik mot regeringen har brutalt slagits ned och över 30 iranska journalister har fängslats sedan de starkt omtvistade valet 2009.

Läs hela pressmeddelandet här:

“The Swedish Union of Journalists, together with Swedish PEN and Reporters Without Borders, Sweden, strongly object against the treatment of our fellow journalists and writers in Iran. Raids and arrests at newspapers and among editorial staff are sadly enough commonplace in Iran in January 2010. Every hint of criticism aimed at the government has been violently cracked down and more than 30 Iranian journalists have been jailed since the highly disputed 2009 election. 

The UN General Assembly’s committee for human rights released a resolution on November 20 stating concern about the Iranian government’s “serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations.” Among those violations were “harassment, intimidation and persecution, including by arbitrary arrest, detention or disappearance, of opposition members, journalists and other media representatives.”
 
The persecution and physical abuse of journalists must come to end. The freedom of the press must be observed and honored in Iran, in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. The jailed journalists and writers must be released and be rejoined with families and friends. That these demands are met is a minimum requirement if Iran is to be taken seriously as a part of the international community."
 
The Swedish Union of Journalists
Swedish PEN
Reporters Without Borders, Sweden”