Sunday, December 29

Efforts to free reporter held in Iran 'complicated,' says Italy

 

In this undated photo released by Chora Media, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala — who was arrested by police in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 19, 2024, according to Italy's foreign ministry — poses in her Rome home to promote her podcast 'Stories.'

ROME —

Efforts to release Italian journalist Cecilia Sala from prison in Iran are "complicated," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday.

Sala was detained on December 19 by police in Tehran and is being held in the city\’s notorious Evin prison, according to her employer.

"We are trying to resolve a complicated issue and to ensure in the meantime that Cecilia Sala is detained in the best possible conditions," Tajani said.

Asked when she might be released, he said "I hope shortly, but it does not depend on us."

"She is obviously detained, which is not ideal, but she is fed and in a single cell," he said.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\’s office said she was "following the complex affair" closely, and Rome was pursuing "all possible avenues of dialogue" to bring Sala home "as soon as possible."

Chora Media, an Italian podcast publisher for which Sala worked, said she had traveled from Rome to Iran on December 12 on a journalist visa, and was due to return on December 20.

But she went quiet on December 19 and then did not board her flight. Shortly afterwards she called her mother to say she had been arrested, it said.

"She was taken to Evin prison, where dissidents are held, and the reason for her arrest has not yet been formalized," Chora Media said in a statement Friday.

Sala also worked for Italian newspaper Il Foglio, which said she had been in Iran "to report on a country she knows and loves."

"Journalism is not a crime, even in countries that repress all freedoms, including those of the press. Bring her home," it said.

Sala, reported to be 29 years old, last posted on X on December 17, with a link to a podcast entitled "A conversation on patriarchy in Tehran."

She had previously reported from Ukraine.

 

By：VOA

Related posts:

Efforts to free reporter held in Iran 'complicated,' says Italy Fearful after arrest, Cambodian reporter who exposed scam centers quits media VOA Russian: Washington, Moscow, Beijing to form complicated strategic triangle in 2025  Blinken to attend G7 meeting in Italy, US State Department says Italy's Meloni says security threat posed by Russia is far-reaching  Italy’s president urges Elon Musk to ‘respect sovereignty’ after court blocks Albania migrant deal Foreign ministers meet in Italy for the last G7 of the Biden administration CAR rebels surrender as Chad military joins in border peace efforts Small but mighty efforts are brewing to bring back native forests in India Hostage envoy: Syria’s vast secret prison network complicates efforts to find Austin Tice Israel and Hamas accuse each other of complicating ceasefire efforts as they inch closer to deal  How a Chinese high-school student left home for a new life in Italy