NCRI – Hundreds of Iranian journalists have protested the continuation of closure of their press association under Hassan Rouhani, state-run news media reported on Monday.
“In a letter, some 772 Iranian journalists urged Hassan Rouhani to unseal their association,” the state-run ISNA news agency reported.
The Association of Iranian Journalists whose members were all loyal to the Iranian regime and had a non-political agenda was not tolerated by the regime and closed down in 2009.
The closure was ordered by Tehran’s former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi following a complaint lodged by the intelligence ministry.
“You promised to do your best to reopen the journalists association … while in the past few months some efforts were made by your ministers in this regard, the exact time of reopening is not clear for us yet,” the petition to Hassan Rouhani reads.
“However, we are still hopeful to see the fulfillment of your promise and ask you to order the reopening process of the association to be accelerated.”
Reporters Without Borders published a report on 18 December 2013 stated that: ” At least 76 journalists have been arrested since the start of 2013, 42 of them since June[election]. Seventeen others have been given sentences ranging from one to nine years in prison. Twelve newspapers and magazines have been suspended or forced to stop publishing under pressure from the authorities. Inhuman treatment of prisoners of opinion continues to be common. Many detainees are still denied medical care despite being very ill or in poor physical and mental health as a result of their imprisonment.
