ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Italian journalist was detained earlier this month in Tehran, Rome’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
“The Italian Foreign Ministry announces that the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, reporting from Iran, was arrested on 19 December by the Tehran police authorities,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Italian government said that they have been monitoring the case from the outset.
Sala is a reporter for Il Foglio, an Italian daily newspaper, and was documenting injustices in Iran.
“In coordination with the Presidency of the Italian Council, the Italian Foreign Ministry has been working with the Iranian authorities to clarify Cecilia Sala’s legal situation and to verify the conditions of her detention,” the statement said.
“Today, Italian Ambassador Paola Amadei paid a consular visit to verify the conditions and status of Sala’s detention,” it added.
Il Foglio said that she is “locked up in Evin Prison.”
Iran has not made any official statement on her arrest.
Tehran has been accused of “hostage diplomacy,” detaining foreign nationals as leverage on the international stage.
Authorities have also cracked down on the media in an effort to limit reporting on its human rights record. Dozens of journalists were detained by Iranian authorities in late 2022 and early 2023 for covering the nationwide protest movement following the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in the custody of Tehran’s morality police.
According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index issued by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders, a non-profit organization aiming to safeguard freedom of information, Iran is listed as 176 out of 180 countries, making it one of the worst nations in the world for press freedom, followed only by North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria, and Eritrea.
“The Italian Foreign Ministry announces that the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, reporting from Iran, was arrested on 19 December by the Tehran police authorities,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Italian government said that they have been monitoring the case from the outset.
Sala is a reporter for Il Foglio, an Italian daily newspaper, and was documenting injustices in Iran.
“In coordination with the Presidency of the Italian Council, the Italian Foreign Ministry has been working with the Iranian authorities to clarify Cecilia Sala’s legal situation and to verify the conditions of her detention,” the statement said.
“Today, Italian Ambassador Paola Amadei paid a consular visit to verify the conditions and status of Sala’s detention,” it added.
Il Foglio said that she is “locked up in Evin Prison.”
Iran has not made any official statement on her arrest.
Tehran has been accused of “hostage diplomacy,” detaining foreign nationals as leverage on the international stage.
Authorities have also cracked down on the media in an effort to limit reporting on its human rights record. Dozens of journalists were detained by Iranian authorities in late 2022 and early 2023 for covering the nationwide protest movement following the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in the custody of Tehran’s morality police.
According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index issued by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders, a non-profit organization aiming to safeguard freedom of information, Iran is listed as 176 out of 180 countries, making it one of the worst nations in the world for press freedom, followed only by North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria, and Eritrea.
