Amnesty Says Dozens of Journalists in Jail in Iran

26 June 2009

London-based Amnesty International has called on Iranian authorities to release dozens of journalists it says are in jail after being arrested during protests since the disputed June 12 election.

The human rights group says the journalists are at risk of torture in detention.

Amnesty International says most of the journalists being jailed worked for the newspaper Kalameh Sabz, which was established by the runner-up in the poll, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

A spokesman for the group said the organization assumes Iran's government is trying to hide evidence of abuse, and further silence any critical voice.

In addition to the imprisonment of journalists, Amnesty condemns efforts by authorities to interrupt the Internet inside Iran, ban coverage of the unrest in local publications and prevent foreign journalists from doing their work properly.