Canada urged keep up pressure on Tehran after Newsweek correspondent’s release

Maziar Bahari, a journalist with dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship who is Newsweek’s Iran correspondent, was freed on bail on 17 October, two days after UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon released a damning report on the human rights situation in Iran. The Iranian authorities are nonetheless still refusing to provide any information about Hossein Derakhshan, a blogger with dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship who has been held for nearly a year. “Bahari’s release should not divert attention from the fact that 31 other journalists and bloggers, including Derakhshan, are still detained in Iran,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Canada and the entire international community must redouble efforts to get the Iranian authorities to free all the imprisoned journalists. Ban Ki-Moon’s recent report confirms that the human rights situation has deteriorated considerably.” Bahari was freed on payment of 300 million toman (250,000 euros) of bail after 120 days in Tehran’s Evin prison. He is still awaiting trial. The Canadian government expressed “great relief” at the news of his release. Arrested at his Tehran home on 21 June, Bahari appeared in court on 1 August at the start of a show trial of people accused of organising or participating in the demonstrations that followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection earlier that month. The indictment that was read out in court by the deputy prosecutor, accusing the defendants of “participating in the riots, acting against national security, disturbing public order and committing acts of vandalism,” cited confessions extracted from Bahari and a “spy who travelled to Israel.” It is believed this could have been a reference to Derakhshan. Derakhshan was arrested on 1 November 2008 after being summoned before a Tehran revolutionary court. Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard wrote to Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of the judicial system, later that month asking him to confirm Derakhshan’s arrest and give the official reasons. Reporters Without Borders was recently told by friends and relatives of Derakhshan that he is still being held by Revolutionary guards. A trumped-up charge of “insulting government leaders and Islam’s holy texts” seems to have been brought against him although he clearly defended not only the Islamic revolution’s principles but also President Ahmadinejad’s policies. In a report released on 15 October, the UN secretary-general said he was “deeply troubled” by reports of excessive force, arbitrary arrests and possible torture in the suppression of protests over the disputed Iranian presidential election, and he urged the government and the opposition to peacefully resolve their differences through dialogue and legal means.