Italian journalist said detained in Iran for more than a week, no reason given
Cecilia Sala left for Iran December 12 with a journalism visa and was scheduled to return a week later, but went dark a day before; Italian defense minister calls arrest ‘unacceptable’
Italy on Friday denounced the “unacceptable” arrest in Iran of an Italian journalist, whose employer said she was being held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on unclear grounds.
Cecilia Sala, 29, who works for Rome-based newspaper Il Foglio and Italian podcast company Chora Media, was said to have been detained in Tehran on December 19.
Chora Media said news of Sala’s arrest was not immediately made public as her family and Italian authorities had hoped that keeping it quiet could help secure her swift release.
The Italian foreign ministry said it was in contact with Iran to clarify Sala’s legal situation and the conditions of her detention. There was no immediate confirmation of the arrest by Iranian officials.
Italy’s ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, visited Sala in prison on Friday and the journalist has also been in phone contact with her family, Italy’s foreign ministry said, adding that she has been allowed to make two phone calls to relatives.
Italian sources with knowledge of the matter said she was “very tired” but “physically fine.”
It was unclear whether Sala’s reported arrest was related to tensions between Rome and Tehran. Iran last week summoned a senior Italian diplomat and the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in the country, over the recent arrest of two Iranian nationals, one of whom was detained in Italy at Washington’s request.
Italian police said Wednesday that the man, 38, was detained while in transit through Milan’s airport. Police said the unidentified man had been accused in a US court of supplying Iran’s Revolutionary Guard with supplies to build combat drones.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on X that Sala’s arrest was “unacceptable,” adding that Italy was using “high-level political and diplomatic action” to try to secure her release.
Elly Schlein, leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party, urged the government to act swiftly.
“We immediately call on the government to take every useful initiative to shed light on this matter, to clarify the reasons for this detention and, above all, to bring Cecilia Sala back to Italy as soon as possible,” she said.
Chora Media said Sala had left Rome for Iran on December 12 with a valid journalism visa and was due to return on December 20.
The company said she had conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of her “Stories” podcast.
But Sala went quiet on December 19 and then did not board her flight. Shortly afterward she called her mother to say she had been arrested, the podcast company said.
“She was taken to Evin prison, where dissidents are held, and the reason for her arrest has not yet been formalized,” Chora said in a statement.
The Il Foglio newspaper said she had been in Iran “to report on a country she knows and loves.”
“Tehran has chosen to challenge everything the West universally holds sacred: our freedom,” the publication wrote on X.
“Journalism is not a crime, even in countries that repress all freedoms, including those of the press. Bring her home,” it said.
Journalism is not a crime. Bring Cecilia Sala home. The journalist was arrested in Iran on December 19th and is now detained in Evin Prison. Tehran has chosen to challenge everything the West universally holds sacred: our freedom https://t.co/Iwtre9TLAR
— Il Foglio (@ilfoglio_it) December 27, 2024
The Iranian constitution gives the Islamic Republic broad leeway to shut down press reports “detrimental to the principles of Islam.”
Iran has a dismal press freedom record and has detained reporters who documented the brutality of its morality police, setting off large-scale protests there in 2022. In November, the US accused Tehran of plotting to kill Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who is critical of the Islamic Republic.
