How draconian is the Iran regime’s crackdown and the pointed messages it’s now sending out (demonstrators mowed down in the streets, family members of foes arrested, communications sliced off)? The latest sign that Iranians and the world are now seeing a government that has lost its shaky figleaf of democracy is the news that Newsweek’s Maziar Bahari was arrested in the early in the morning — and has not been heard from since.
Among the dozens of people arrested overnight in Tehran was NEWSWEEK reporter Maziar Bahari, who has covered Iran for the magazine for over a decade. Bahari was home asleep at 7 a.m. when several security officers showed up at his Tehran apartment. According to his mother, who lives with the 41-year-old reporter and documentary filmmaker, the men did not identify themselves. They seized Bahari’s laptop and several videotapes. Assuring her that he would be their guest, they then left with Bahari. He has not been heard from since.
Why would a government take a journalist from a high profile foreign publication away?
Usually it’s less to do with actual questioning to elicit vital information, of due to a serious threat to regime. Usually, it’sto send a message to people inside the country and outside. INSIDE: these reporters writing or broadcasting for forign publications can be controlled, put out of circulation or intimidated. OUTSIDE: we’ll make sure you can’t keep on reporting what’s going on and if you want your staffer back you better make nice and even if you don’t we’re letting you know that we’re not just watching you but we can get your reporters off the streets…for as long as we went to keep them off the streets.
In a statement, NEWSWEEK magazine has strongly condemned the detention of Bahari and called for him to be released immediately. Bahari is a dual Canadian-Iranian citizen. According to the statement, “His coverage of Iran, for NEWSWEEK and other outlets, has always been fair and nuanced, and has given full weight to all sides of the issues. He has always worked well with different administrations in Tehran, including the current one.”
NEWSWEEK Editor Jon Meacham said, “We are deeply concerned about Mr. Bahari’s detention. As a longtime NEWSWEEK reporter he has worked hard to be balanced in his coverage of Iran. We see no reason why he should be held by the authorities. We respectfully ask that they release him as soon as possible.”
The reason is simple: they wanted to send a message.
And since there isn’t Western Union, and since the regime is trying to squelch the web, email, Twitter and mainstream media, it sent a message in a way that showed it’s true colors…by police taking someone away in the early morning.
According to Reporters Without Borders, over 20 Iranian journalists and bloggers have been detained since the disputed presidential elections on June 12.
For once, comparisons with the evolution of regimes such as Nazi Germany are indeed in order.
UPDATE: To put this arrest within a larger context:
Iranian authorities have arrested at least 24 journalists and bloggers since postelection protests began a week ago, and a media watchdog says reporters are a “priority target“ for Iran’s leadership.
Among those detained were the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists and a Canadian reporter for Newsweek. The British Broadcasting Corporation’s correspondent has been ordered to leave the country.
“It’s becoming more and more problematic for journalists,” said Benoit Hervieu of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, also known by its French acronym RSF.
The group released the names of 23 Iranian journalists, editors and bloggers arrested since June 14, and says it has lost contact with several others believed detained or in hiding. Hervieu said RSF verified each arrest via its network of reporters and activists in Iran.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.