Mr. Bahram Ghasemi
Chargé d'Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Canada
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Canada
245 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2K2

May 11, 2010

Dear Mr. Ghasemi,

I am writing on behalf of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect press freedom and freedom of expression around the world.

CJFE condemns the 13-year prison sentence handed down to Canadian citizen, journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on May 9, 2010.

On Sunday May 9, Bahari received a sentence in absentia of 13 years in prison, and an additional 74 lashes for new crimes unrelated to the charges laid against him in 2009. They include five years for "congregation and mutiny with the intent to commit crimes against national security," four years for "collecting and keeping confidential and classified documents," one year for "propagation against the regime," two years for "insulting the [Supreme] leader," six months for "insulting the President," and one year and 74 lashes for "disruption of public order."

Bahari was just one of 100 people to be tried by a Tehran court on August 1, 2009. While no specific charges were laid at that time, the indictment accused the defendants of trying to stage a coup. The trial began without the notification or presence of the defendants' lawyers. CJFE and other free expression organisations were concerned that the defendants had been forced to make false confessions.

Bahari, a correspondent with Newsweek, and a prominent member of an international campaign advocating for the release of imprisoned Iranian journalists and writers (which CJFE also participated in), was held on anti-state charges for 118 days in Iran following the disputed presidential election in June 2009. Bahari has stated that during his detention he was interrogated, tortured and coerced to "confess" to a number of serious criminal acts on Iranian television. He was released on October 17, 2009, and left Iran to be reunited with his family in the West.

There are at least 35 journalists still being held in Iranian jails, including Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, who has been detained since November 2008 without charge.

CJFE calls on the government of Iran to bring to an end the nearly year-long campaign of harassment and intimidation of Iranian journalists working domestically and abroad. CJFE also calls on the government of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists and bloggers who have been detained simply for exercising their right to free expression. Journalists play an integral role in Iranian society and should be allowed to do their jobs.

We thank you for your attention and look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Arnold Amber, President

c.c.: Dennis Horak, Chargé d'Affaires of Canada to the Islamic Republic of Iran;
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs