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Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad, an Iranian journalist who lives in France with his wife and son, has been imprisoned in Iran since the end of September. He had gone to cover the vast protest movement that has rocked the country since Mahsa Amini’s death in custody.
A young Iranian journalist, Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad, 30, a resident in France since 2020 and recently graduated from the Lille School of Journalism, has been detained in Tehran since the end of September, the television channel Arte announced on Saturday, October 29. He had left in a report “commissioned by Keyi Productions and the Art news department” to cover the events that have shaken the country since Mahsa Amini’s death, according to the network’s statement.
He left on September 23 and worked “in full transparency with the authorities,” Arte said, adding that he had “submitted a letter of accreditation and the details of his French press card to the Tehran authorities.” According to the channel, Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad was detained in the city of Saqqez, in Iranian Kurdistan, before being transferred to Tehran.
The announcement of his arrest has provoked a wave of solidarity in France. “I feel a lot of emotion both among the students and among the staff of the school who have been close to Vahid during his two years of study,” said Pierre Savary, director of the ESJ of Lille, to ‘la France Info’ chain. “Our thoughts are with him, his family, his friends and his classmates, and we hope he will be released,” a statement from the school said.
“We call for the immediate release of Vahid […]. Gagging journalists will not prevent the truth from coming to light, nor will their colleagues do their job,” France 24’s Société des Journalistes said in a statement.
Nous appelons à la libération immédiate de Vahid et pensons très fort à lui et à ses proches pendant ces jours difficiles. Museler des journalistes n’empêchera pas la vérité d’éclater nor leurs collègues de faire leur travail. #solidarity #Iran https://t.co/Xjow5NxNtG
— The SDJ of France 24 (@SDJ_France24) October 30, 2022
*Adapted from its original French version
