Italian Journalist Arrested in Iran
Elizabeth Denton
Staff Writer
On December 19, Italian journalist and podcaster Cecilia Sala was arrested by Iranian officials on charges of breaching Islamic law.
Sala has covered many topics including the fall of Kabul, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the crisis in Venezuela, the war in Ukraine, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Guardian reports she was in Iran on a journalistic visa for Il Foglio newspaper and was put in solitary confinement in Evin prison in Tehran. Sala spoke of harsh conditions in Evin prison during a phone call with her parents, such as having to sleep on the floor of her freezing cell without a mattress, only having two blankets, one to sleep on and one to fend off the cold, food being given to her through a crack in the door, her reading glasses being confiscated, and a neon light being on in her cell all day and night. Reuters adds that Sala has been permitted little contact with the outside world. Italy’s foreign ministry requested for Sala to receive detention conditions that respected human rights and a guarantee that full consular assistance be permitted.
Sala was freed on January 8 and able to return home after spending three weeks detained in Tehran, reports Reuters. Her release comes three days after the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, made a visit to the United States President-elect Donald Trump. According to The New York Times it is unclear exactly how Italy obtained Sala’s release.
Evin prison is known to detain opponents of the Iranian regime, journalists, and foreign citizens. According to The Guardian, Narges Mohammadi, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is being held in Evin prison. Mohammadi is planning to publish her autobiography and is working on a book about women held on political charges and the assaults and sexual harassment they face. Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years for her advocacy against the compulsory wearing of the hijab for women and capital punishment in Iran. She said the imprisonment has left a physical toll on her body after three years of intermittent detention and repeated refusals of care.
The Guardian reports there are 70 prisoners in the women’s ward at Evin from a multitude of backgrounds, ages, and political views composed of journalists, writers, women’s rights activists, and people persecuted for their religion. The most commonly used torture method in Evin is isolation where political prisoners die. Mohammadi has personally documented cases of torture and serious sexual violence against her fellow prisoners.
According to The Associated Press, when Italy summoned Iran’s ambassador to negotiate Sala’s release, Tehran demanded Italy free an Iranian citizen arrested in Milan. On December 16, the U.S. Justice Department announced charges against two Iranian citizens accused of supplying drone technology to Iran used in an attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan in January 2024. Mohammad Abedini, one of the suspects, was detained at Milan’s Malpensa airport. U.S. federal prosecutors have charged Abedini with export control violations after FBI specialists analyzed the drone navigation system used in the Jordan attack, tracing the technology to them. Prosecutors say Abedini’s Tehran-based company manufactures systems for the military drone program of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Sala was detained in Tehran three days after Abedini’s arrest. The Italian and Iranian governments referred to both cases in their public statements after the Iranian ambassador was summoned to the Italian foreign ministry, leading commentators to speculate that Tehran is pursuing Abedini’s release by holding Sala hostage. According to The Associated Press, many commentators cite Tehran’s frequent usage of prisoners as bargaining chips since the 1979 Embassy Crisis in which dozens of U.S. hostages spent 444 days in captivity. Abedini’s lawyer, Alfredo De Francesco, asked the Milan court to grant Abedini house arrest for the duration of the trial. Milan’s general prosecutor, Francesca Nanni, argued that Abedini was a flight risk especially since the residence proposed to house him in Italy is owned by the Iranian government. The court will decide on his request on January 15.
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