Journalist and peace campaigner disappears in Iran

Mazdak Ali Nazari was arrested at his private home, where he lives alone. In a brief conversation he had with his family, he informed them that he had been arrested and that he did not know where he was.

The journalist is a peace campaigner and in 2007 he received an Iranian Journalists Union award, created in honour of Ghasmi Mehran.

Before his arrest he had joined the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, a global initiative that calls for nuclear disarmament and the withdrawal of troops from occupied territories, among other proposals. Nazari had made a commitment to taking part in the march and its section in Iran, but following the fraudulent elections that took place in his country and his arrest, his plans will not materialise.

Representatives of the Human Rights Association in Iran and Belgium expressed their concern for the reporter: “We call for the condemnation of the arrest of Iranian journalists, which is illegal and contravenes international regulations”. They also stated that “Iran is the biggest prison in the world for journalists. Most of those arrested are placed under great psychological pressure and are subject to abuse. They are illegally denied the right to be visited by their family and lawyers”.