JournalismPakistan.com | Published 8 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
NEW YORK - Iranian authorities should immediately release Sasan Aghaei and Yaghma Fashkhami, two journalists detained in Tehran, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Security agents on August 12 arrested Aghaei at the offices of Etemaad Daily, the reformist newspaper where he works as a political columnist, according to reports. Authorities have not stated publicly the reason for his arrest.
Separately, security agents arrested Fashkhami, a reporter for Didban Iran, at the news website's Tehran office on August 21, according to reports. According to the reformist news website Kalame, authorities have not charged Fashkhami. The journalist previously worked for the Iranian newspaper Rozan, which authorities shut down in December 2014, according to BBC Persian.
CPJ attempted to contact Iran's administrative court of justice but the online contact form on its website did not work. CPJ was unable to locate contact information for Etemaad Daily or Didban Iran.
"Despite President Hassan Rouhani's promises to allow the Iranian media to operate freely, authorities seem intent on continuing to jail journalists," said CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney. "Iranian authorities must immediately release Sasan Aghaei and Yaghma Fashkhami."
Aghaei is detained in Evin prison, his family told the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. The family said that they went to the prison on August 16, but authorities barred them from seeing Aghaei. CPJ could not determine where Fashkhami is being held.
Iranian authorities continue to crack down on the independent press, CPJ has found. This month, the country's judiciary banned employees from the BBC Persian news service from selling property and assets in the country.
Ahead of elections in May, authorities arrested several administrators of Telegram channels operated by reformist news sites and disclosed new registration requirements for the app. – CPJ media alert
October 30, 2025: The PFUJ has condemned a fabricated drug case against journalist Matiullah Jan, calling it an attempt to silence him and urging authorities to quash the charges immediately.
October 30, 2025: NewsOne TV remains on air but faces mass layoffs and delayed salaries, exposing Pakistan’s worsening media crisis and financial instability.
October 28, 2025: Sindh Police arrested four suspects linked to a banned outfit in the murder of journalist Imtiaz Mir, who was shot in Karachi in September 2025.
October 26, 2025: Riffat Ara Alvi, the mother of slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, has died, ending her relentless fight for justice following his killing in Kenya in 2022.
October 25, 2025: Veteran journalists and rights activists urge authorities to quash the fabricated drug case against Matiullah Jan, calling it an attack on media freedom.
October 24, 2025: PTV journalist Najam Wali Khan faces social media backlash after calling late SP Adeel Akbar a coward and a fool following his alleged suicide in Islamabad.
October 24, 2025: JournalismPakistan.com celebrates 16 years of independent reporting and media insight. Founded in 2009, the platform has weathered censorship, cyberattacks, and financial pressures to remain a trusted space for all who love and follow the media.
October 23, 2025: PFUJ calls for the immediate appointment of an ITNE judge, warning of a serious case backlog affecting journalists and media workers seeking justice across Pakistan.
October 30, 2025 PSL franchise fees lag far behind IPL's USD 18.5B valuation as Pakistan Cricket Board's bureaucratic grip stifles growth. Hard numbers expose a stark reality.
October 30, 2025 India’s government has proposed strict new rules mandating the labelling of AI-generated and deepfake media to curb misinformation and ensure content authenticity on social platforms.
October 30, 2025 Vietnamese authorities seize BBC journalist’s passport amid interrogation, sparking outrage as Hanoi leader To Lam visits the UK. Rights groups urge her release.
October 30, 2025 CDEPS and CPJ condemn the arrest of 7TV’s Maimouna Ndour Faye and other journalists in a late October crackdown on Senegalese media over interviews with a wanted politician.
October 29, 2025 In a historic first, a Bishkek court declares Kloop, Temirov Live, and their founders extremist, marking Kyrgyzstan’s sharpest assault on press freedom under President Japarov.