Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, who was released from prison in Iran on Saturday after he was jailed in the aftermath of the country’s disputed elections, has returned to London.
Index on Censorship, along with Committee to Protect Journalists, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and Bahari’s employer Newsweek magazine, led a high-profile campaign for his release.
Newsweek magazine has confirmed that Canadian-Iranian reporter Maziar Bahari, Iran correspondent for the magazine, has been released on bail by Iranian authorities. Index on Censorship, Newsweek, Committee to Protect Journalists and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression have campaigned for Bahari’s release since he was taken from his mother’s Tehran home in the aftermath of June’s disputed election.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the United States has “expressed our concern about Maziar Bahari’s confinement and trial” to the Canadian government and offered to help. Newsweek’s Tehran correspondent was detained on 21 June as part of Iran’s post-election crackdown on the media. This week her husband, Bill Clinton, returned from North Korea having obtained the release of two imprisoned US journalists. Read more here
Canadian-Iranian filmmaker Maziar Bahari was among over 100 protestors, activists and journalists who appeared in court in Iran on Saturday, 1 August. Index on Censorship has been campaigning for his release with Newsweek, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. Maziar Bahari has not been allowed to see a lawyer since his detention on 21 June.
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