The Iranian government has arrested relatives of Persian-language journalists working abroad for the BBC in a bid to silence them, the British Broadcasting Corporation said Friday.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said the sister of a BBC Persian journalist was arrested last week and held in solitary confinement on unspecified charges at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, before being released on bail.
Reportedly, a man claiming to be the relative’s interrogator at Evin contacted the BBC employee in London, seeking information about the BBC in return for the family member’s freedom.
“Her treatment was utterly deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” Thompson wrote in a blog, adding that it was only the latest incident “in a campaign of bullying and harassment by the Iranian authorities”.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said the sister of a BBC Persian journalist was arrested last week and held in solitary confinement on unspecified charges at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, before being released on bail.
Reportedly, a man claiming to be the relative’s interrogator at Evin contacted the BBC employee in London, seeking information about the BBC in return for the family member’s freedom.
“Her treatment was utterly deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” Thompson wrote in a blog, adding that it was only the latest incident “in a campaign of bullying and harassment by the Iranian authorities”.
The Iranian government has arrested relatives of Persian-language journalists working abroad for the BBC in a bid to silence them, the British Broadcasting Corporation said Friday.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said the sister of a BBC Persian journalist was arrested last week and held in solitary confinement on unspecified charges at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, before being released on bail.
Reportedly, a man claiming to be the relative’s interrogator at Evin contacted the BBC employee in London, seeking information about the BBC in return for the family member’s freedom.
“Her treatment was utterly deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” Thompson wrote in a blog, adding that it was only the latest incident “in a campaign of bullying and harassment by the Iranian authorities”.
BBC Director General Mark Thompson said the sister of a BBC Persian journalist was arrested last week and held in solitary confinement on unspecified charges at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, before being released on bail.
Reportedly, a man claiming to be the relative’s interrogator at Evin contacted the BBC employee in London, seeking information about the BBC in return for the family member’s freedom.
“Her treatment was utterly deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” Thompson wrote in a blog, adding that it was only the latest incident “in a campaign of bullying and harassment by the Iranian authorities”.
“Increased levels of intimidation”
While it is not the first time the BBC has complained about Iranian harassment of its journalists, Thompson said the past few months had seen “increased levels of intimidation alongside disturbing new tactics.
“In recent months a number of relatives of members of BBC Persian staff have been detained for short periods of time by the Iranian authorities and urged to get their relatives in London to either stop working for the BBC, or to ‘cooperate’ with Iranian intelligence officials,” he said.
Relatives’ passports had been confiscated, preventing them leaving Iran, while BBC staff had been accused in the Iranian media of offences such as sexual assault, drug trafficking and converting from Islam to Christianity.
Thompson called on Tehran to repudiate the actions of its officials and urged governments and international bodies to help stop “this campaign of intimidation, persistent censorship and a disturbing abuse of power”.
BBC Persian, based in London, is a multimedia news and information service for Persian speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and around the world.
Iran has frequently accused the BBC of fuelling the unrest that broke out following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
During the post-election crisis, BBC Persian conducted hundreds of telephone interviews with protesters who provided eyewitness accounts of deaths, injuries, and arbitrary arrests carried out by Iranian security forces.
According to the Guardian, Iran is thought to be preparing a documentary film discrediting the channel in the buildup to parliamentary elections in March
The paper also reported that, Sadeq Saba, the head of BBC Persian, was accused live on air by an unknown caller of raping Pooneh Ghoddoosi, the presenter of popular Persian-language talk show Your Turn. Despite both parties insisting the charge is entirely without foundation, it has since been repeated as fact by several leading Iranian government media outlets.
Meanwhile, an unnamed BBC staff member who spoke to Human Rights Watch said he and his colleagues had been exposed “to almost daily insults and personal attacks on various pro-government websites and blogs inside Iran”.
But the targeting of relatives “is really a red line for us, and we can’t stay silent”, the BBC worker said.
“Our families should not be victimized because of our personal decisions to work for the BBC. Nor should they become a pawn in a larger political game between Iran and other countries.”
Foreign Office minister Burt said the Iranian authorities had a “shameful track record” of using family members to put pressure on Iranian lawyers, journalists and human rights activists.
“Such deplorable tactics illustrate again the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, and the desperation of the Iranian regime to silence any independent voices,” he said.
“The international community has repeatedly called on the Iranian authorities to cease harassment and intimidation of journalists and to prevent illegal jamming of broadcasts. We will continue to do so.”
“In recent months a number of relatives of members of BBC Persian staff have been detained for short periods of time by the Iranian authorities and urged to get their relatives in London to either stop working for the BBC, or to ‘cooperate’ with Iranian intelligence officials,” he said.
Relatives’ passports had been confiscated, preventing them leaving Iran, while BBC staff had been accused in the Iranian media of offences such as sexual assault, drug trafficking and converting from Islam to Christianity.
Thompson called on Tehran to repudiate the actions of its officials and urged governments and international bodies to help stop “this campaign of intimidation, persistent censorship and a disturbing abuse of power”.
BBC Persian, based in London, is a multimedia news and information service for Persian speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and around the world.
Iran has frequently accused the BBC of fuelling the unrest that broke out following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
During the post-election crisis, BBC Persian conducted hundreds of telephone interviews with protesters who provided eyewitness accounts of deaths, injuries, and arbitrary arrests carried out by Iranian security forces.
According to the Guardian, Iran is thought to be preparing a documentary film discrediting the channel in the buildup to parliamentary elections in March
The paper also reported that, Sadeq Saba, the head of BBC Persian, was accused live on air by an unknown caller of raping Pooneh Ghoddoosi, the presenter of popular Persian-language talk show Your Turn. Despite both parties insisting the charge is entirely without foundation, it has since been repeated as fact by several leading Iranian government media outlets.
Meanwhile, an unnamed BBC staff member who spoke to Human Rights Watch said he and his colleagues had been exposed “to almost daily insults and personal attacks on various pro-government websites and blogs inside Iran”.
But the targeting of relatives “is really a red line for us, and we can’t stay silent”, the BBC worker said.
“Our families should not be victimized because of our personal decisions to work for the BBC. Nor should they become a pawn in a larger political game between Iran and other countries.”
Foreign Office minister Burt said the Iranian authorities had a “shameful track record” of using family members to put pressure on Iranian lawyers, journalists and human rights activists.
“Such deplorable tactics illustrate again the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, and the desperation of the Iranian regime to silence any independent voices,” he said.
“The international community has repeatedly called on the Iranian authorities to cease harassment and intimidation of journalists and to prevent illegal jamming of broadcasts. We will continue to do so.”
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