Iranian security forces reportedly arrested freelance investigative reporter Hasan Abbasi this week in response to a complaint filed by a provincial governor about his reporting, according to news reports and press freedom groups.
Abbasi covers news in the southern city of Bandar Abbas, in Hormozgan province. Security forces arrested him Sunday. The specific charges against him were unknown.
The complaint against the reporter was reportedly filed in response to his coverage of retired sailors who had allegedly failed to receive their government pensions, according to HRANA, a U.S.-based human rights monitor.
The Committee to Protect Journalists was unable to determine where he was being held or whether he had been formally charged.
“Iranian authorities must free journalist Hasan Abbasi immediately and unconditionally and cease the practice of arbitrarily locking up members of the press for doing their jobs,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Authorities must ensure that all journalists are able to cover newsworthy issues without fear that they will be arrested.”
On April 26, Abbasi posted a video on his personal Twitter account saying that he was also facing a separate complaint filed by the local office of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade accusing him of spreading “fake news” in his reporting on the ministry.
“Journalists are paying the price for the malfeasance of government officials,” he said in Persian in the video.
Iran is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders, with at least 25 journalists currently jailed.
