Rouhani on his trip to UN headquarter in New York during an interview with CNN said there is no journalist in prison in Iran for their job.
On the letter the journalists said, “When you came to power in June 2013, you promised that you would create a more secure working environment for journalists and the media in our country”.
The journalists emphasized that “Yet more than a year after resuming office, the demands and expectations of journalists have not been realized”.
These journalists who many of them forced to leave the country to live in exile with their colleagues from inside Iran wrote: “You were once critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration and its habit of concealing and denying the truth. Your recent denial that a problem even exists echoes this sentiment, and reminds us of its impact.
We, the undersigned journalists, believe that it is unethical, unprofessional and insulting to deny the fact that, today, many journalists remain in prison in Iran for doing their jobs. Moreover, a number of journalists have been imprisoned during your presidency.
Rouhani insulting Iranian journalists to deny the fact that, today, many journalists remain in prison in Iran for doing their jobs.
In our country, security agents regularly imprison journalists, denying them their basic rights simply for carrying out their duty: to inform the public.”
According to “Reporters without border” Iran is world’s leading jailer of female journalists with more than 65 of news providers behind bars in Iran including 10 women.
Rouhani’s failure to keep his promises and the deplorable situation of freedom of information in Iran were highlighted in a report on the human rights situation in Iran that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued on September 14.
Referring to Rouhani’s pledges, the report said: “Unfortunately, those promises have not yet led to significant improvements, and restrictions on freedom of expression continue to affect many areas of life.” It also said the judicial authorities still question and arrest journalists, and the intelligence services still harass the media.
