Advocacy group demands release of 2 detained Iran reporters

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – An advocacy group has called for the immediate release of two Iranian journalists detained in Tehran.

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement early Friday highlighting the cases of Sadra Mohaqeq, an editor at the pro-reform daily newspaper Shargh, and Yashar Soltani, who writes for the news website Memari News.

The committee says Mohaqeq was detained Sept. 19 for allegedly working with “anti-revolutionary media outlets” outside of Iran. It says Soltani’s detention came after Tehran authorities filed a criminal complaint against him over an article alleging corruption in land deals.

Sherif Mansour of the committee says the reporters’ detention shows, “whether journalists are advocating for national political reform or reporting on a local land deal, they are not safe from Iranian prisons.”