UK Journalists Union Demands Action Against Iran For Secret Trials

Newspapers, with a cover picture of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police" are seen in Tehran, Iran September 18, 2022.
Newspapers, with a cover picture of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police" are seen in Tehran, Iran September 18, 2022.

UK’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) demands action against Iran after documents reveal secret trials of journalists working for Persian language media abroad.

The documents, released by the hacker group Edalat-e Ali, have identified 44 journalists and media activists accused by Iran's judiciary of engaging in "propaganda against the Islamic Republic system."

Among those implicated are ten journalists affiliated with BBC Persian in London, along with others associated with Iran International, Manoto TV, Gem TV, Voice of America, and Prague-based Radio Farda (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary of the NUJ, strongly condemned Iran's actions, characterizing them as part of an aggressive campaign against Iranian journalists both domestically and internationally.

“It is deeply shocking that a state can act in this abhorrent way, putting journalists and their families in real danger in a flagrant abuse of press freedom. Once again, we will be contacting the UK’s government and the UN and we ask that the wider international community speak out against this outrageous weaponizing of journalists,” she added,

The revelation came following the publication of a database of criminal cases from the Tehran Judiciary by Edalat-e Ali, which included details of both public and secret cases totaling three million in number. The affected journalists were reportedly unaware of their conviction until the hacked documents were made public, revealing that they had been tried in absentia without legal representation or access to the indictment.

Following the disclosure of the documents, Iran's notorious Judiciary initially denied any hacking of its computer systems. However, all the files are accessible to the public on Telegram.