International press body calls for respect of media workers

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Tuesday reiterated its appeal for Iranian authorities to respect the rights and freedom of media workers.
An IFJ statement noted that Mashaallah Shamsalwaezen, the vice president of the Association of Iranian Journalists, has endured a series of government attempts to undermine his rights in recent days, while many journalists remain in prison, including the female journalist, Rayhane Tabatabaei, who was jailed over one week ago because of her work and has been sentenced to six months in prison.
Shamsalwaezen received a letter from Iranian authorities on Saturday summoning him to attend the country's revolutionary court in Evin. He was charged with carrying out propaganda against Iran during two global media conferences he has spoken at outside the country.
He was questioned for two hours and authorities asked him to post bail of 200 million Toman ( 70,000 euros). He was later released on bail.
"We reiterate our call for Iranian authorities to respect the rights of journalists in Iran and we call on the Iranian government to release all journalists being held in the country," said IFJ President Jim Boumelha.
The Brussels-based IFJ represents more than 600, 000 journalists in 134 countries.