2009: Iran: Maziar Bahari
July 9th 2009
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Sent electronically to: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Your Excellency
RE: The detention of Canadian-Iranian journalist and film-maker Maziar Bahari
Mr Maziar Bahari has been living and working in Tehran for the past ten years and has dual Canadian-Iranian citizenship. He was arrested on 21th June of this year and has been kept in detention without any charges raised against him.
Norwegian PEN and its Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) are sincerely worried to learn about Mr Bahari’s situation and equally regarding a large number of other journalists who have been arrested following the recent elections in Iran. While we express no opinion regarding the election and its results, we find reason for alarm regarding the prosecution of individuals who obviously only exercise their legal right to freedom of expression, as laid down in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory.
On behalf of Norwegian and Internationasl PEN I protest the detention of Maziar Bahari and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in Iran in violation of the above mentioned Article 19.
Confident that Your Excellency will listen to this appeal
Yours sincerely
Aase Gjerdrum
member, Norwegian PEN
