Union Says 28 Iranian Journalists Still In Custody

Union of Journalists in Iran has published the names of 28 reporters, who have been arrested during the nationwide anti-regime protests, saying that they are still in detention.

According to the report by a committee that follows up on the situation of the detainees, about 70 journalists had been arrested with some of them freed on bail.

The names of Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi could also be seen in the list. They were arrested by the Iranian regime for reporting the death of Mahsa Amini who was killed in the custody of the hijab or ‘morality police’ in September.

The committee also announced that in addition to these arrests, a significant number of journalists have also been "summoned".

Since the uprising against clerical rulers, pressure has increased on the media, with detained journalists facing false accusations.

Some of these journalists have received heavy sentences, including Ehsan Pirbornabash who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his satirical tweets.

There are no exact figures on the number of people arrested during the protests, but some sources say nearly 20,000 people have been detained, while the government released some of them with heavy bonds and forced confessions.

Iran is reportedly the third largest jailer of journalists in the world, after China and Myanmar.

The Islamic Republic has long held one of the world’s worst press freedom rankings, at 178th out of 180 countries.