Shima Shahrabi, a journalist for the website IranWire, said Wednesday she was concerned about the physical condition of her brother after Iranian authorities arrested him more than three weeks ago.
Shahrabi tweeted that her brother, Sajjad Shahrabi, was arrested because of her own media activities and that phone contact with her brother has been cut off for a week.
She added that her brother said he had been held in solitary confinement and was then moved to a multi-person cell following a hunger strike.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Sajjad Shahrabi, who worked as a reporter and host for the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, was arrested at his father’s house May 3 in Tehran.
Reporters Without Borders says Iran has been “one of the world’s most repressive countries in terms of press freedom” since protests began in September in response to the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini.
On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told VOA the United States calls on Iranian authorities to stop arbitrary arrests and sham trials, and to stop depriving the Iranian people of basic freedoms.
