According to Amnesty, their arrest is either because of the six individuals’ (five men and one woman) exercise of their right to freedom of expression, or for their contacts with foreign media, in particular the BBC’s Persian service which recently aired a one-hour long documentary about the life of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The detainees are five documentary filmmakers Hadi Afarideh, Shahnam Bazdar, Naser Saffarian, Mohsen Shahrnazdar and Mojtaba Mir Tahmasb as well as producer and distributor, Katayoun Shahabi. The six were arrested on September 17 and are believed to be held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. “Their families are reportedly under pressure not to speak about their arrest,” Amnesty said in a statement.

In addition, the Minister of Intelligence told Iranian state television on September 25 that others accused of links to BBC Persian had also been summoned for questioning.

The ban on contact with international news and human rights organisations appears to have been “designed to hide from the world the truth of events in Iran and to obstruct reporting on the human rights situation,” the statement maintained.

“The arrests exemplify exhaustive efforts by the Iranian security services to stifle any form of dissenting voice in the country, and to isolate Iranians from the international community by criminalising contact with foreign media and other organisations.”

“The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party,” stated Suzanne Trimel, Amnesty International’s Media Relations Director.

Iran’s harassment of those involved in the movie industry is nothing new. Internationally celebrated filmmaker Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof were both sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in December 2010. Panahi was also banned from any involvement in film-making for twenty years.

Source : The Green Voice of Freedom