Release date: 3 July 2009
Statement
The CIoJ deplores the arrest by the Iranian Authorities of more than 30 journalists and the expulsion of some foreign reporters. The Chartered Institute urges the immediate release of all journalists arrested during the current political turmoil and the cancellation of the expulsion orders.
Dominic Cooper, General secretary, said: “Democracy cannot be served by gagging the messengers and if the Iranian authorities wish to project their state as a democracy on the world stage, freeing the press (and the press men and women) would be a better way of going about that quest.”