New York Times urges Iran to release jailed journalist
Updated: Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Photographer: US State Department Photo
Reporter
11:30GMT—7:30AM/EST
Washington, 9 September (WashingtonTV)—The New York Times on Wednesday called on Iran to release jailed journalist Maziar Bahari, who has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for more than two months.
Bahari, a dual citizen of Iran and Canada, was arrested on 21 June, shortly after the disputed presidential election. He has not been officially charged and has not been allowed to see his lawyer, the New York Times said in an editorial.
“President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is preparing to come to the United Nations this month where he will enjoy the freedom to speak his mind. Back home, far too many people are denied their basic rights and are deprived of their freedom,” said the daily.
It urged Iran to immediately release Bahari and the many others arrested in the wake of the election.
Bahari, who has been Newsweek magazine’s Iran correspondent since 1998, is a finalist for Spain’s prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, the magazine said on Tuesday.
The award is given to groups or individuals “whose work has made an exemplary and outstanding contribution to mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence amongst men.”
Bahari, 42, was nominated by Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. The jury will announce its decision on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a Canadian lawmaker said on Tuesday that sources in Iran have told him that Bahari has been acquitted of all minor charges against him.
Dan McTeague said that the only thing delaying Bahari’s release was a guarantee by Ottawa that he “was at no time involved with any official Canadian government activity within Iran,” according to the Canadian Press.
Sources: New York Times, Newsweek magazine website, Canadian Press
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