Aref: Political prisoners, journalists must be released with cooperation

Young journalists club

News ID: 1471
Iran » Iran
Publish Date: 10:43 - 26 June 2013
Tehran, YJC. The former Reform VP says that cooperation must be made on releasing political and journalist prisoners.

In a meeting with Reformist journalists, Mohammadreza Aref said "Some of those arrested had only service to their country in mind.”

He expressed grief over how journalists have been treated in the past few years, adding "The same problems that existed for the press also existed for universities, that is, the same intensity of security observation existed and students were limited in their activities.”

He asserted "A puppet press would better not exist at all. The problem with our press is that they are so fragile. We must not deprive the reporter of her courage.”

In the sidelines of the meeting a representative journalist also provided comments on the journalistic atmosphere of the country in the past few years and said "During the Principalists' eight years, all were subject to threats and accusations, from the leader of Reformation to the smallest members, that is, journalists. Those journalists who found themselves on the safe side would accuse their coworkers with espionage, anti-national security activities, and so on.”

The journalists in the meeting asked Aref that equal situations be provided for both Reformist and Principalist journalists where security observations are eliminated.

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Under Review: 1
Nuray Omar
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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00:47 07 April 1392
Journalists are enlightened people who research and try to tell the truth about events around the world. They go through enormous hardships in order to let the truth come out. When a government cracks down on journalists we know that it avoiding to let the truth to come out. It is interesting to not that in both in Iran and in Turkey there is a problem concerning freedom of expression. Liberal voices have been suppressed and this is not good because it halts the progress of the regimes whether in Turkey, Iran or Egypt toward the natural path of all societies and that is democracy. We only hope with the new leadership in Iran under Rohani new reforms can begin that can lead the way for Arab countries and Turkey to follow the same path as well to stop persecuting their journalists.
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