Rights group calls for release of Iran journalist, stronger free speech protections News
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Rights group calls for release of Iran journalist, stronger free speech protections

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called for Iranian authorities to release an arrested newspaper editor, saying that his detention is part of a deliberate effort to restrict dissenting speech in the country.

The CPJ claimed that the arrest of Parviz Sedaghat and several other dissenting voices in Iran is an attempt to “criminalize critical thought and independent journalism” and signaled increasingly shuttered public debate following the 12-day war with Israel. Experts noted that the widening gap between ordinary Iranians and the clerical elite, fueled by “years of poor governance,” growing inflation, and systematic corruption, has fueled widespread frustration amongst the population.

Sadaghat, editor-in-chief of Nadghe Eqtesad Siyasi (Political Economy Critique), was arrested and detained on November 3 alongside some of his colleagues. Iranian authorities raided the homes of several other researchers and experts, and held them for questioning.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects freedom of expression and opinion without fear of interference, including information communication through “any media.” Moreover, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.”

In a July article, Sadaghat criticized the situation in Iran, noting that the country’s economy is undergoing a “structural blockage” fueled by overspending on ideological and military campaigns. According to the economist, the country faces an income inequality crisis due to “the distribution of income in favor of the wealthy minority and the implementation of neoliberal policies in the labor market, along with the more or less continuous decline in real wages in the last decade.”

Furthermore, Sadaghat noted that international sanctions placed on the nation after it renewed its uranium-enrichment program, have cost billions, reducing Iran’s bargaining power and encouraging the expansion of the underground economy.

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