These are three emblematic stories, those of two women and a man, that we have chosen to tell you on this World Press Freedom Day. These three journalists, two Iranians and a Franco-Afghan, were imprisoned for having shown themselves faithful to their professional duty.
In 2022, RSF [Reporters sans frontière] classhavet iran 178e country in terms of freedom of the press, followed only by two totalitarian states, theEritrea and North Korea. It is still necessary to specify that itThis assessment appeared before the death of Jina Masha Amini on September 16, 2022, arrested by the morality police for a ” inappropriate wearing of the veil followed by a wave of arrests of nearly 20,000 people, including a large number of journalists.
It was her violent arrest, according to several direct testimonies, which on September 13 plunged this 22-year-old student into a coma from which she would not wake up. The leak of a radiograph revealing A severe head trauma confirms this hypothesis stubbornly denied by the authorities, and gives birth to an unprecedented protest movement, now known under the slogan “Women, life, freedom”.
Niloofar Hamedi, first journalist arrested after the death of Masha Amini
For Jonathan Dagher, head of the Middle East office of RSFjournalists and women have since been among the groups most targeted by repression. “Niloofar Hamedi, who was then 29 years old, is journalist at Sharg [L’Est]a daily newspaper of the Iranian reform movementexplains Reza Moini, former head of the Iran Afghanistan Tajikistan bureau to RSF. She photographede the parents of the young woman in tearss. »
“After posting the photograph on Twitter, he continues, women burned their headscarves during spontaneous demonstrations. Niloofar Hamedi was imprisoned six days later in Evin prison (Tehran), without no charge until April 26, 2023. The February amnesty did not result in his release. »
“The charges ultimately brought against hercomments Jonathan Dagher, are grotesque: conspiracy, rebellion against state security, collaboration with a hostile government and propaganda against the regime. » A similar fate was reserved for Elaheh Mohammadi35, daily journalist Ham Mihan [Le Patriote]Who followed the funeral of Jina Mahsa Amini in Saqqez in Iranian Kurdistan and reported on a police attack during the ceremony.
Elahhey Mohammadi, a journalist inhabited by THE duty to inform
Arrested on September 29, she too, however, only showed an extreme professional conscience. “The price of the taxi to go to this funeral, which she paid out of pocket, was higher than her salary, recalls Jonathan Dagher. Elaleh Mohammadi does not do this job for the money, but for her mission to inform. » She, too, waited until April 26 to hear about the equally fanciful charges acknowledged against him.
“There is no very clear red line in Irancontinues Jonathan Dagher. Here, the red lines change all the time, it’s a kind of organized chaos. The authoritarian power fears pressure from the country and international pressure. There is an ideological side that speaks in the name of God and there is a repressive side, with the intelligence services, the morality police, the revolutionary guards. »
“Freedom of the press as a concept as we know it in Europe has never existed in Iran”, complete Reza Moini. “Iran is one of the biggest prisons in the world for journalists. » Between September and November, however, there have never been so many journalists imprisoned. Despite the graces, 26 are still today incarcerated, including 9 women. These arrests have the function of make an example and get silence. “The liberations recalls Jonathan Dagher, are obtained against written confessions. Here we manage to maintain the illusion of consent. »
Mortaza Behboudi, Franco-Afghan journalist imprisoned in Kabul since January
The route of Mortaza Behboudi is that of a prodigy journalist, who begins his career at 15 photographing the protests in Tehran where his family took refuge. Worried about the regime, he goes back to the Afghanistan where he East removed sfollowing a report describeant the links between the Taliban and the drug trade. Ihe begins a long journey of exile which leads him around the France. Supported by the House of Journalists in Paris, he learned French And obtains dual nationality in 2020.
He develop a career as a documentary filmmaker with Moria, Beyond Hell (2020) on the Lesbos refugee camp, broadcast on Arte. He was in Kabul during the flash conquest of the Taliban on August 15, 2021 and has never ceased since then to report on the martyrdom of his native land, as a journalist and as a fixer. He received the Bayeux prize for press correspondents and the Varenne prize in 2022.
Stop him January 7, 2023 in Kabul, as he prepares to withdraw his accreditation, he is accused of espionage and imprisoned. The news remains confidential until February 6. ” At first, entrust his wife Aleksandra Mostavaja, it was better not to involve the media. But the diplomatic way having proved fruitless, we decided to change strategy. »
A column carried by RSF and 14 media was published on February 6. Since then, Aleksandra Mostajava has only been able to speak to her husband once. Regarding his situation, Reza Moini does not take off: ” There is a support committee, It’s good. But what is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doing? The government must do its duty, because Mortaza Behboudi has French nationality. Why did the media, which since August 2021 have encouraged him to go there, notDidn’t they think he could be stopped? Forn dictatorships, local journalists do not count. »
► To go further: