Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

<strong>Attacks</strong> on the Press in 2010For detainees, prison conditions aggravated existing ailments andcaused new health problems. Saeed Matin-Pour, a reporter for newspapersin western Azerbaijan province, suffered acute heart and respiratoryproblems but was denied adequate care, his wife told the Human RightsActivists News Agency. Hengameh Shahidi, who was severely beaten by anEvin Prison inmate, was granted medical furlough but was ordered backto prison after just three weeks, before she could complete all her medicalexaminations.CPJ research showed the government cruelly manipulated medicalfurloughs. Veteran journalist Emadeddin Baghi, who suffered from respiratoryand cardiac ailments aggravated by previous stints in prison, wastransferred to a hospital in March after losing consciousness but was returnedto prison within a few days, the BBC reported. He was released inthe fall due to numerous health complications only to be recalled to prisonin December.Mofidi, the journalist association head, was denied a medical furloughafter her health deteriorated in solitary confinement at Evin Prison. “Shesuffers from a heart condition and is being given strong tranquilizers as theinterrogations are causing her a great deal of stress and exhaustion,” herdaughters wrote in a letter that was published on reformist websites. Theletter went on to describe “immense psychological and physical pressure,violent and continuous interrogations, solitary confinement, deprivationof phone calls to family, repeated change of prison cells, and an ambiguouslegal case.” Mofidi was eventually released on bail pending an appeal of hersix-year prison term.A CPJ report released in June found that of the 85 journalists who lefttheir home countries and went into exile in the previous 12 months, 29were from Iran. That represents the highest single-year count from anycountry in the past decade. “My photos were seen as political criticism ofclerics in Iran,” said photographer Mohammad Kheirkhan, who went intoexile after being harshly interrogated following the June 2009 elections.CPJ research indicates that many of the exiled Iranian journalists werewarned through unofficial channels that their families would face retaliationif they made critical statements about press conditions inside Iran.In August, the imprisoned journalist Saharkhiz and his son, Mehdi,filed a lawsuit against Nokia Siemens Networks under the Alien Torts Act,which allows U.S. federal courts to hear human rights cases brought byforeign citizens for conduct outside the United States. The lawsuit allegedthat by providing electronic surveillance technology to Iran, NokiaSiemens Networks and its parent companies, Siemens AG and Nokia Inc.,were responsible for the abuses Saharkhiz suffered. In a statement, NokiaSiemens said its actions had not led to the journalist’s abuse.238