IRAN: JOURNALIST FREED ON BAIL; REPRESSION CONTINUES

IRAN: JOURNALIST FREED ON BAIL; REPRESSION CONTINUES Journalist Maziar Bahari was freed on bail on 17 October after spending 120 days in Tehran's Evin prison, report Reporters Without Borders RSF) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). A journalist with dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship, Bahari is a "Newsweek" correspondent who was detained in the clampdown on protestsafter the disputed presidential elections in June. At a show trial on 1August, an indictment was read out by the prosecutor citing confessionsforced out of Bahari, reports RSF. Immediately after his release he rejoined his family in Tehran and wasawaiting trail, reports RSF. According to news reports, Iranian officialsallowed Bahari to return to the U.K. this week and he is now with his wifewho is about to give birth to their first child. CJFE welcomed the news of Bahari's release but also emphasised thejournalists and bloggers who remain in prison just because they exercisedtheir right to free expression. Another journalist with dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship, bloggerHossein Derakhshan is still being held by Revolutionary guards since hisarrest on 1 November 2008, report CJFE and RSF. "Bahari's release should not divert attention from the fact that 31 other journalists and bloggers, including Derakhshan, are still detained in Iran," RSF said. "Canada and the entire international community must redouble efforts to get the Iranian authorities to free all the imprisoned journalists. Ban Ki-Moon's recent report confirms that the human rights situation has deteriorated considerably." Related stories on IFEX.org:- Journalist Maziar Bahari released on bail:http://ifex.org/iran/2009/10/19/bahari_released_on_bail/ More on the web:- Canada urged to keep up pressure on Tehran after Newsweek correspondent's release (RSF): http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=34748