2019 July / August Review: Imprisonments
The Coalition For Women In Journalism has been keeping a close watch on cases where women journalists have been imprisoned during the July to August period. We documented one case during July, which came out of Iran. There were three more cases in August, one from Morocco and the remaining from Iran. Three women journalists were also released during this period, one in Israel and two in Turkey.
On July 22, Farangis Mazloom was taken into custody by Iranian authorities. Agents from the Intelligence Ministry showed up to her house without their uniforms and took her to an unknown location.
Farangis is the mother of imprisoned journalist Soheil Arabi. She began work as a citizen journalist after her son was taken. We believe that her arrest was another example of Iran's intimidation tactics, where the families of those imprisoned are harassed.
Farangis is known for reporting on the inhumane conditions that her son is being subjected to while in prison.
On August 31, Hajar Raissouni was arrested for getting an illegal abortion. She was further charged with premarital sex and faces two years of imprisonment. Her fiance alongside her doctor and his team have been taken into custody as well.
Hajar maintains that she did not get an abortion and was present for an entirely different medical procedure. She believes that her work as a journalist is the real reason behind her arrest and imprisonment. While detained she was subjected to a gynecological exam without her consent.
The state should have no business meddling in anyone's personal life and to say that Hajar's treatment has been disturbing would be an understatement.
Assal Mohammadi has had a difficult year. She was originally taken in for covering a labour protest in December 2018. She was released on January 5 this year after posting bail, only to be rearrested on January 9. On August 4, she was re-arrested alongside other journalists who had covered the protests.
On August 3, Nooshin Jafari was detained. She was taken in by intelligence agents in plain clothes. Her family was threatened against divulging information about her arrested and detention. Her sister was also arrested by intelligence agents.
A raid was also conducted on her home the same day and resulted in the confiscation of several items, including her phone, equipment, and more. Nooshin's work as a photojournalist focuses on film and theater. She stands accused of "insulting the sacred values of Islam". She was held in an unknown location with was not allowed to get in touch with her family or a lawyer.
This is not the first time the journalist has been arrested. In 2009, she was taken into custody because of her work with a reformist publication.
This report was developed with the support of The Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
Writer and Researcher: Luavut Zahid
Executive Editor: Kiran Nazish
If you would like to request more insight into our findings, or would like to suggest an addition to our work reach out to us at data@womeninjournalism.org. For media inquiries reach out to us at press@womeninjournalism.org.