Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.

Time to end a five-year crackdown in Iran
This Thursday, CPJ will launch a social media campaign calling for the end of the press crackdown that began on June 12, 2009, the day of Iran’s tumultuous presidential elections.
A lot has changed in five...

Time to end a five-year crackdown in Iran

This Thursday, CPJ will launch a social media campaign calling for the end of the press crackdown that began on June 12, 2009, the day of Iran’s tumultuous presidential elections.

A lot has changed in five years. The thunderous demand of thousands–“Where is my vote?”–no longer echoes in the streets. The presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, whose campaigns ultimately helped spark a massive street movement, now languish under house arrest. In place of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the anointed victor of the 2009 elections, is Hassan Rouhani, who won a surprise victory last year on a platform of international engagement and reform. With Rouhani’s election, some people have come to feel that 2009 just may be history and that Iran has moved on.

But when it comes to press freedom in Iran, too much has remained the same these five years. On election day in 2009, at least nine journalists were behind bars. Twenty-six days later, CPJannounced Iran had officially become the world’s worst jailer of the press with 30 journalists in jail:with further research, the number rose to at least 39, a stunning increase of 333 percent since June 12.

Continue reading.

Follow the campaign on our Tumblr or @CPJmena or @pressfreedom