An Italian journalist has been arrested while reporting in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and has been in solitary confinement for a week, according to Italy’s foreign ministry.
Cecilia Sala, 29, a war correspondent and reporter who worked for the Il Foglio newspaper and the Chora Media podcast company, was detained on December 19, the ministry said, but her arrest was only made public on Friday.
She was seen as a regular journalist in the region and published various reports on various landscapes Iran after the fall of Assad in Syria.
“Following orders from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the embassy and consulate in Tehran are monitoring the case very carefully from the beginning,” Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Coordinating with the president’s advice, we are working with the Iranian authorities to clarify Sala’s legal situation and verify the conditions of his detention.”
Sala is being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin detention center, which holds the most against security guards. It has long been criticized by Western rights groups and flagged by the US government in 2018 for “serious human rights abuses”.
The foreign ministry said Sala was allowed to make two phone calls to his relatives. The Italian ambassador, Paola Amadei, visited Sala in prison on Friday, and Tajani told the journalist “he is in good condition”.
Chora Media said in a statement: “Cecilia’s voice has been independent. Italy and Europe they cannot bear this arbitrary arrest. Cecilia Hall must be released immediately.
Il Foglio said in the article: “Aurism is not a crime. We decided to share Cecilia’s story, having received assurances from our diplomatic chiefs that informing readers of her arrest would not slow diplomatic efforts to bring her home.
Sala has almost half a million followers on Instagram and is a regular guest on Italian conferences. Among other topics, he covered Kabul and the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the crisis in Venezuela, the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Elly Schlein, leader of the center-left opposition Democratic Party, urged the government to act quickly. “We continue to call on the government to take every useful initiative to shed light on this matter, to explain the reasons for the detention, and above all to bring Cecilia Sala back to Italy as soon as possible,” he said.
Iran has not recognized Sala’s detention. However, it can take weeks before authorities report such arrests. When the US embassy in 1979Since only the hostages were released after 444 days of captivity, Iran has used Western prisoners in chip deals with other countries.