The Iranian Association of Journalists is calling for the elimination of “restrictions imposed on the press and reporters” and says the group should be allowed to officially reopen.

In an announcement issued on Tuesday August 6, ahead of the upcoming Journalists Day, the association maintain that more than 200 reporters have been arrested in the past four years and given harsh prison terms or been banned from media activities.

The announcement challenges the government’s closure of “scores of independent newspapers” which has also driven rising unemployment in the field.

The offices of the Association of Journalists were shut down following the crackdown on 2009 election protesters and the widespread crackdown on journalists and activists
(Radio Zamaneh)