The Italian government said on Friday that Iranian authorities detained a journalist from the country for a week, and that the circumstances of her detention are still unclear. The Italian Foreign Ministry is working with Iranian officials “to clarify the legal status of Cecilia Sala and verify the conditions of her detention,” according to a ministry statement.
Sala was in Iran A report by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, according to an article published by the newspaper on Friday, when she was arrested on December 19. The newspaper’s editor called for her immediate release in the article, saying: “Journalism is not a crime.”
“Cecilia was in Iran, on a regular visa, to tell the story of a country she knows and loves, a country where information is choked by repression, threats, intimidation, violence and arrests, often against journalists themselves,” said Claudio, editor-in-chief of Il Foggio. Serasa said in the article.
Elena Di Vincenzo/Elena Di Vincenzo Archive/Mondadori Portfolio/Getty
He said that the newspaper decided to publish the news of Sala’s arrest only after receiving “assurances from our diplomatic chiefs that informing readers of the news of her arrest will not slow down diplomatic efforts to return her to her homeland.”
The Iranian government did not acknowledge Sala’s arrest until Friday, and none of the country’s official media reported on it. Some Iranian analysts who spoke with CBS News on the condition of anonymity suggested that it was possible that Sala could be detained to be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over two Iranian nationals detained in recent months in Italy over alleged sanctions violations.
The Italian Foreign Ministry said in its statement that Tehran police detained Sala while he was “in Iran to carry out journalistic services.” The ministry said Italian Ambassador Paola Amadi made a consular visit to “verify the conditions and state of detention” of Sala.
The ministry did not confirm that she was being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison outside Tehran, Il Foglio reported. She added that her family “was informed of the results of the consular visit,” without providing any other details.
Regardless of the reason for her arrest or any charges eventually announced against Sala, the Islamic clerics ruling Iran have an established record of repression. Silencing dissent.
All media in the country are tightly controlled by the government. Street protests against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparked by him Anger over the killing of a young woman in police custody and Strict enforcement of religious ordersIt has been forcefully suppressed more than once in recent years.
Sala’s last article published in Il Fogio was a political analysis examining the implications of Khamenei’s regime. A dramatic fall for Iran’s close ally in SyriaDictator Bashar al-Assad.
She contributed to this report.
