Newsweek Magazine Objects to Imprisonment of Iranian Journalist

And thank goodness it is because Iran holds the very shameful title of being the world's worst jailer of journalists.

Newsweek has intensified its efforts to free Maziar Bahari, one of the many journalists who were arrested during the pro-democracy demonstrations.

The New York Times:

In advertisements, petitions and in a report on its Web site, the newsmagazine is strenuously objecting to Mr. Bahari’s treatment in the country, where he has yet to receive access to a lawyer. The magazine says it views the arrest as “baseless.”

Mr. Bahari is among more than 40 reporters who remain jailed in Iran, according to nonprofit organizations that campaign for the freedom of reporters around the world. The groups say that Iran has imprisoned the most journalists of any nation in the Middle East.

Mr. Bahari was detained in Tehran on June 21, Newsweek said, as part of a crackdown after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Other journalists for Western news organizations were also detained by the authorities after the election on June 12, but most were released swiftly.

Iran’s state news agencies have reported that Mr. Bahari confessed to involvement in promoting what they called a “color revolution.” Mr. Bahari’s family and colleagues have rejected that confession, saying that it must have come under duress.

We still have faith that the Tehran regime will be forced to see the light. You can keep an entire people under the boot for only so long.