Iranian Christian arrested, 11 journalists in prison

Islamic Republic one of the most repressive nations for reporters, report says.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gestures as he talks with journalist from a balcony of the Palais Coburg hotel where the Iran nuclear talks meetings are being held in Vienna, Austria (photo credit: REUTERS)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gestures as he talks with journalist from a balcony of the Palais Coburg hotel where the Iran nuclear talks meetings are being held in Vienna, Austria
(photo credit: REUTERS)
ATHENS – The Islamic Republic of Iran’s fierce crackdown on Christians and journalists is continuing unabated in December, according to human rights monitoring organizations.
The International Christian Concern (ICC) reported on Wednesday that Iran’s state-controlled media said the regime arrested an unnamed Christian near the country’s border with Azerbaijan.
The ICC wrote that “very little information about the arrested individual is shared. However, the report does cite some of the so-called justifications of arrest including [its attempts to] ‘publicize evangelical Christianity,’ ‘establish house churches’ and ‘destroy Abrahamic religions [by] disturbing public opinion in the public and virtual spheres.’ A number of items related to this individual were confiscated.”
According to ICC, “Iran’s record of mistreating religious minorities foreshadows significant challenges that the evangelist may face. It is common for arrested individuals to disappear for several days while the authorities interrogate the detainee.”
The Christian rights group added, “The conditions of incarceration are often filled with a blatant disregard for human dignity. Christians are given long sentences in prison, where they are effectively cut off from their families and friends.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published its annual survey on Tuesday and “found at least 250 journalists in [Iranian] jail in relation to their work, compared with an adjusted 255 a year earlier.”
CPJ noted that “Iran, which also saw significant protests in 2019, increased the number of journalists in jail to 11. Prominent economic reporter Mohammad Mosaed was arrested after tweeting during an internet shutdown intended to suppress new protests against high gas prices, ‘Hello Free World!’ and that he was using ‘42 different proxies’ to get online.”
The press rights organization wrote that “the highest number of journalists imprisoned in any year since CPJ began keeping track is 273 in 2016. After China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the worst jailers are Eritrea, Vietnam and Iran.”