The journalists, identified only as a reporter and a photographer for Bild am Sonntag, were arrested on 10 October during an interview with the son of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, who has been sentenced to death by stoning on charges of adultery. The authorities accused them of travelling on tourist visas and working illegally. Bild am Sonntag launched a public appeal last week after the reporters were shown on Iranian state television apparently confessing to their ‘crimes’.
In a letter to President Ahmadinejad, the international press organisations noted that the arrests violated numerous international conventions and asked him "to ensure that the two German journalists and all others jailed for exercising their right to freedom of expression are immediately released and their sentences overturned."
At least 23 journalists remain in prison in Iran, making the country one of the world's worst for jailing media professionals. Most are being held on vague anti-state charges and face lengthy prison sentences, often under harsh conditions. Among the journalists in prison is Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, laureate of the 2010 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom, who was sentenced in 2009 to six years imprisonment and received a lifetime ban on practicing his profession as a journalist.
Read the full letter to President Ahmadinejad at: http://www.wan-press.org/article18732.html
