Yosef Azizi Banitrouf freed on bail after 68 days in prison

Reporters Without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the release of Yosef Azizi Banitrouf on 28 June on payment of 25,000 dollars in bail but pointed out that four other journalists are still imprisoned in Iran. Banitrouf had been arrested at his home on 25 April. READ MORE

"His release is very good news but we must not forget that four other journalists are still being held in Evin prison in very harsh conditions, that one of them, Akbar Gangi, has been on hunger strike for the past 19 days, and all of them urgently need appropriate medical treatment," the organisation said.

Iranian journalists are constantly subject to arbitrary measures ranging from newspaper bans to imprisonment, Reporters Without Borders said. "The new government must put a stop to the arrest and illegal detention of intellectuals and journalists," the organisation urged.

Banitrouf worked for the daily Hamshari for 12 years but was recently fired by the ultra-conservatives who took over the newspaper's management. Since then he has contributed to several other news media.