The renowned Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who reports on civil protests and state crackdowns in Iran, has been arrested while visiting Tehran, and is currently being held in solitary confinement in the capital’s notorious Evin prison.
Amid continued internal dissent, Sala’s detention is yet another example of Iran’s systematic efforts to suppress press freedom, silencing both domestic and foreign voices through a combination of intimidation, arrests, and legal repression.
Sala, a 29-year-old correspondent for Il Foglio and Chora Media, was apprehended on December 19th, in Tehran, despite holding a valid press visa. She arrived in Iran on December 13th to document the nation’s shifting political and social landscape. Previously, her reporting had focused on the aftermath of the July 2024 presidential election of Masoud Pezeshkian, an allegedly reformist politician, defiance of mandatory hijab laws, ongoing anti-government protests, and the crippling effects of rampant inflation. Her podcast ‘Stories’ featured interviews with various dissenting voices, including a conversation with Zeynab Musavi, an Iranian comedian previously imprisoned for criticising the regime’s hijab mandates.
Despite her credentials, Sala was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison. Since her arrest, Sala has been held in solitary confinement with limited communication, and permitted only two brief phone calls with her family. Iran has since confirmed that Sala was arrested for “violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, but has provided no further details.
Evin Prison, where Sala is held, epitomises Iran’s harsh approach to dissent. The facility is infamous for its use of torture, psychological abuse, and inhumane conditions. According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, detainees often face prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and coerced confessions. Foreign nationals are frequently targeted under vague or fabricated charges, allowing the regime to leverage their detention as a bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations.
In an interview with La Repubblica, a US State Department spokesperson suggested that Sala’s detention may have been a retaliatory response to the December 16th arrest of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, a Swiss-Iranian businessman, at Milan’s Malpensa Airport. Najafabadi, 38, was apprehended on a U.S. warrant for allegedly violating sanctions by exporting electronic components potentially usable in drones.
“Unfortunately, the Iranian regime continues to unjustly detain citizens of many other countries, often using them as political leverage,’’ the spokesperson said. “There is no justification for this, and they should be released immediately. Journalists do crucial work in informing the public, often under dangerous conditions, and must be protected.’’
Sala’s detention highlights the Iranian regime’s deplorable practice of detaining foreign journalists to achieve diplomatic leverage, while also bringing international media attention to systematic repression within the country, where journalism is perilous, particularly for women and foreign or dual-nationality correspondents.
Ranked 176th out of 180 nations on the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Iran’s press climate is defined by pervasive fear and self-censorship.
As of March 2023, over 70 journalists had been arrested since the nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” protests erupted in response to the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died after being detained by Iran’s morality police. She was accused of violating the country’s strict dress code laws by not properly wearing her hijab. Amini collapsed and fell into a coma, with officials claiming she suffered a “heart attack.” However, eyewitness accounts and leaked medical reports suggest she was brutally beaten while in custody, including sustaining blows to her head.
Elaheh Mohammadi, one of the Iranian journalists who dared to report on Amini’s death, became a symbol of the risks faced by media workers in the country. She was arrested and charged with “propaganda against the system and conspiracy to act against national security” – charges that carried the potential for the death penalty. After spending a year in detention, she was released on bail in January 2024. However, in October she received an enforcement order to begin serving a five-year prison sentence, and was given five days to report to Evin Prison. Currently, she remains out of prison pending the outcome of her appeal.
Examples of similar cases abound. In 2022, Iranian journalists Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who covered Mahsa Amini’s death and funeral respectively, were arrested on charges of “propaganda against the state” and collaboration with foreign governments. They were recently released on bail but face ongoing legal challenges.
The reality, however, is that many journalists are now simply self-censoring to avoid possible interrogation or arrest. “Any type of communication with friends abroad can make our case worse,” one reporter who was arrested by the security forces in 2024 told RSF on condition of anonymity. “It’s an endless nightmare,” another Tehran-based journalist said. “I’m afraid to write anything, even in my notebook. I feel I’m being watched all the time.”
Iran’s legal framework facilitates such repression. The Islamic Penal Code contains broad provisions criminalising acts like “propaganda against the state,” “collusion against national security,” and “spreading false information”. These vague and entirely subjective charges enable authorities to arbitrarily detain journalists and suppress dissenting voices.
According to RSF, recent amendments to Iran’s 1986 Press Law have recently expanded its scope to include online publications. This change allows authorities to prosecute journalists for charges such as “endangering the Islamic Republic,” “offending the clergy,” or “spreading false information.”
Human Rights Watch’s 2024 World Report accused the Iranian authorities of deploying broad national security charges against protesters and journalists, and documented widespread judicial abuses including the routine denial of access to legal counsel during initial investigation periods and the use of confessions obtained under duress as evidence in court.
International condemnation of Sala’s detention has been swift.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has pledged to secure Sala’s release, while European leaders such as Hannah Neumann of the European Parliament, have condemned the arrest, describing it as a direct attack on media freedom. Advocacy group the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also called for Sala’s immediate release.
In a statement, CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said: “Iran has a long and ignominious history of detaining journalists – both local and foreign – for reporting the realities of life in the country. We urge authorities to release Cecilia Sala immediately”. The CPJ also noted that Iran is the world’s sixth-worst jailer of journalists, with 17 imprisoned as of December 1, 2023.
Sala’s case highlights not only the perils of reporting in Iran but also the regime’s broader efforts to stifle independent journalism. Her detention will also likely discourage foreign journalists from operating in Iran, creating a chilling effect on independent reporting from one of the world’s most opaque regimes.
