Statement of a group of
Independent Iranian Journalists
We are journalists!
But for many years, we have been
continuously assailed by those in power and have suffered various securities,
political and social indictments for doing our job.
The media has been restricted in countless
ways. Newspapers and websites have been banned.
Journalists have been losing
their jobs, had their homes raided, and been threatened, terrorized, and
forbidden from publishing their work. Many journalists have been imprisoned for
months and years on end.
We, journalists, have therefore
come to stress, “we are journalists”: protectors and operators of the fourth
pillar of democracy, people who uncover deficiencies and guide society towards
progress and development.
Journalists cannot be the
panegyrists of power and servitors to the ruling parties or opposition.
Journalists are neither advocates of the government nor political activists.
Journalists report only the truth
as demanded by their professional duty and help to bring about a dynamic
society by generating debate and dialogue on different problems in different
fields.
When journalists are detained on
the basis of invalid accusations, are forced to make false confessions,
forbidden from working as journalists, forced to stay at home or to leave the
country, society suffers a loss of journalists and media that can accurately
portray reality.
Society is thereby deprived of growth and
dynamism. This loss of independent media leads to an increase in the presence
of media dependent on and representative of those in power. Such media gives
credit to lies and allows those in power to determine what is regarded as truth.
The audience will lose its trust in the media.
We are journalists, we constantly
challenge internal and external censorship, await proscription by hardliners or
politicians, are worried that our press will be banned and that we will lose
our jobs.
We are confronted with conflicts and tensions
daily, have to deal with official and unofficial institutes to prepare a single
report, news, interview or other routine tasks, but continue our work out of
love for reporting the truth and fulfilling our journalistic duty.
We believe that the profession of
journalism in the current environment in Iran deserves appreciation and respect
rather than threat, terror and detention.
We are journalists, we do our
professional duties and believe in informing and criticizing those
transgressions in our society and in creating a space to argue and exchange
opinions. We believe that free expression in the media must not be regarded as
a crime by any law or standard.
We demand immediate and
unconditional freedom of all imprisoned and detained journalists. We also
demand all forms of censorship to be determined and nightly arrests as well as
all threats and terrorizing of journalists or their families inside and outside
of the country to be stopped.
We are all journalists, with
different individual and social identities and with a multitude of views, but we
are all colleagues. We consider any threat to the journalist, a threat to the
whole community of journalists.
We are journalists and it is our
duty to support truth. If being a journalist is a crime, we are all accomplices
to that crime.
Iraj Adibzadeh, Abdolreza Ahmadi,
Firouzh Akbarian, Sogand Alikhah, Hoshiar Ansarifar, Hamidreza Aryanpour,
Faeghe Ashkevari, Pouya Azizi, Ahmad
Batebi, Alireza Behnam, Naeimeh Dostdar, Farshid Faryabi, Mojgan Ghafari
Shirvan, Kambiz Ghafouri, Omid Habibinia, Reza Hajihoseini, Ahmad Hashemi,
Helen Hemmati, Nader Jahanfard, Ahmad Jalali Farahani, Reza Jelodarzadeh,
Sepideh Jodeyri, Zahra Kamali, Saghi Laghaie, Masoud Lavasani, Sadighe Mahmodi,
Rouzbeh Mirebrahimi, Amir Mohsen Mohamadi, Arezo Moradi, Amir Hosein Mosala, Morteza
Musavi, Solmaz Naraghi, Mana Neyestani, Touka Neyestani, Alireza Nourizadeh,
Aliasghar Ramezanpoor, Ardavan Rouzbeh, Behnam Saber Nemati, Ahmad Safa, Leila
Samani, Hengameh Shahidi, Noushin Shahrokhi, Saed Shams, Ali Sharifian, Ali Shirazi, Maryam Soltanzadeh, Siamak Zand.
Feb 16. 2013
Copy To:
- IFJ
- CPJ
- Journalists and Freedom of
Expression Associations
- United Nations Special Rapporteur
for Human Rights in Iran,
- Human rights institutes,
- EU Commissions
- Media and News Agencies
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