Iran calls on int’l activists to help freedom of Palestinian journalist

TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Deputy Minister of Culture and the Islamic Guidance Ali-Reza Malekian called on international press community on Monday to take necessary measures for the rapid release of a Palestinian journalist illegally arrested by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Malekian sent separate letters to senior officials of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) calling to mobilize their capabilities to help rapid freedom of Khader Shahin and his colleague who worked for the Arabic-language Alalam News Network.

Shahin was arrested on January 5 while reporting from Gaza. He was taken into custody for questioning.

The Israeli regime’s authorities claim that Shahin violated censorship rules when he reported the launch of the Israeli ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which had been banned by the Israeli military.

Malekian stressed in his letters that Shahin’s detention was against the Article 19 of the Human Rights Declaration which says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The deputy minister added that Shain arrest was also against the Geneva Convention.

Malekian further argued that Zionist troops aimed at preventing free flow of information and news dissemination by arresting independent journalists as the Israelis did not want world public opinion to be informed of their crimes against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“Israel is trying to launch news blackout” by preventing easy activities of independent journalists, Malekian said in his letters.

He added that authorities of the Zionist regime were to lessen the psychological pressures felt by world public opinion for the ongoing onslaught against the defenseless people of Gaza.

Iran has previously sent a letter to the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Koichiro Matsuura, calling for UNSESCO’s support for the Palestinian journalist and its serious actions for his immediate release.

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