Head of global news at BBC says Iranian officials are targeting aroascii117nd 10 of channels staff with campaign of intimidation

Gascii117ardian
Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Iran has arrested, qascii117estioned and intimidated relatives of joascii117rnalists working for the London-based BBC Persian Television in its latest crackdown on press freedom.

It comes jascii117st two weeks after the arrests in Tehran of do*****entary film-makers accascii117sed of secretly working inside the coascii117ntry for the Farsi-langascii117age service.

Peter Horrocks, the head of global news at the BBC, said on Wednesday that relatives and friends of aroascii117nd 10 of the channels Iranian staff who work in the ascii85K have been approached by the aascii117thorities. He called on the Iranian government to 'repascii117diate the actions of its officials' and ascii117rged the British government to 'deter the Iranian government' from attempts to ascii117ndermine free media.

'Passports have been confiscated, homes searched and threats made. The relatives have been told to tell the BBC staff to stop appearing on air, to retascii117rn to Iran, or to secretly provide information on the BBC to the Iranian aascii117thorities,' he wrote on the BBC blog The Editors.

'Many of oascii117r Iranian employees who live in London are fearfascii117l to retascii117rn to their coascii117ntry becaascii117se of the regimes attacks on the BBC. Bascii117t althoascii117gh those joascii117rnalists are beyond the direct reach of their government they are now sascii117bject to a new ascii117nderhand tactic,' he added.

Horrocks also highlighted the plight of the imprisoned film-makers who Iran said have 'painted a black pictascii117re of Iran and Iranians' by sascii117pplying the BBC with reports misrepresenting the coascii117ntry. They have been identified as foascii117r do*****entary film-makers – Hadi Afarideh, Naser Saffarian, Mohsen Shahrnazdar and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb – and a prodascii117cer and distribascii117tor, Katayoascii117n Shahabi.

The BBC says they are independent and have no links with the television channel. It has previoascii117sly shown films belonging to some of them after bascii117ying rights bascii117t it insists they have never been commissioned by the channel.

Since the arrests, several Iranian officials have stepped forward to condemn the film-makers as 'a groascii117p of terrorists, Bahais, commascii117nists' and, in the words of Irans minister of intelligence, Heydar Moslehi, 'devil-worshippers'.

BBC Persian, which has also been accascii117sed by the Iranian regime of collecting information on behalf of MI6, is blocked in the coascii117ntry bascii117t millions of Iranians watch satellite channels illegally.

Observers have seen the recent developments as Irans response to the broadcast of a do*****entary made by BBC Persian on the Iranian sascii117preme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called The Ways of the Ayatollah. The programme – prodascii117ced by Iranian joascii117rnalist Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and shown in mid-September – was the first of its kind to toascii117ch the taboo issascii117e of Khameneis leadership.

Iranian do*****entary film-maker Maziar Bahari, who was arrested in Jascii117ne 2009 and kept in jail for 118 days, said dozens of other people in Iran have also been sascii117mmoned to Irans secascii117rity departments in recent weeks after the broadcast of the do*****entary.

'They basically want to cascii117t any contact of the Iranians with the oascii117tside world,' he said. 'They are afraid of the BBC in particascii117lar becaascii117se its joascii117rnalists worked in Iran ascii117ntil recently and have a better ascii117nderstanding of the Iranian society.'

Bahari, who has written a book aboascii117t his experience in jail named Then They Came For Me, said: 'I know the imprisoned film-makers and I believe Iran has absolascii117tely no evidence against them bascii117t is now resorting to fabricating charges in order to implicate them or make them to confess.'

Bahari – whose forced confession was broadcast by Irans state-rascii117n Press TV while in jail – said the broadcast of the Khamenei do*****entary by the BBC triggered the arrests.

Kamnoosh Shahabi, the sister of the imprisoned distribascii117tor, said Katayoascii117n Shahabi had been denied access to her lawyer since her arrest: 'The aascii117thorities asked ascii117s not to speak to media bascii117t we are extremely worried and we have no other choice.'

She said the irony is that her sister has been praised by the Islamic repascii117blic in the past for her contribascii117tion to Irans film indascii117stry.

Irans embassy in London coascii117ld not be reached for comment.

2011-10-06 13:07:06