Iran has confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, state news agency IRNA said, citing the Iranian Ministry of Culture.
Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday that Sala was detained in Tehran. IRNA said Monday that Sala had been detained on December 19 after “violating the laws of the Islamic republic of Iran.”
“Her case is currently under investigation. Her arrest was carried out in accordance with the relevant regulations, and the Italian Embassy in Tehran has been informed,” IRNA said, citing the Iranian Ministry of Culture.
The reporter was visited in prison Friday by Italian Ambassador Paola Amadei “to verify the conditions and state of her detention,” the statement said, adding that she had previously been allowed to make two phone calls to her relatives.
“We still don’t know the charges,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told journalists on Saturday.
Until Saturday, a lawyer had not visited Sala in prison, the foreign minister added.
“We hope that (the lawyer) will be able to do so in the next few days and that he will be able to know the exact charges as soon as possible,” Tajani said.
Sala was reporting in the Iranian capital when she was “stopped by Tehran police” on December 19, the Italian foreign ministry statement said, adding that the foreign ministry “has worked with the Iranian authorities to clarify the legal situation of Cecilia Sala and to verify the conditions of her detention.”
Sala is a reporter for the Italian daily Il Foglio, which says the journalist is being held in Tehran’s Evin prison. According to Il Foglio, Cecilia was in Iran “on a regular visa to report on a country she knows and loves,” while noting its repression of free speech and threats against journalists.
The publication’s editor, Claudio Cerasa, wrote in the paper on Friday: “Journalism is not a crime. Let’s bring Cecilia Sala home.”
The Italian outlet Chora Media, where Sala also works, said Friday that she had left Rome on December 12 “with a valid journalistic visa and the protections of a journalist on assignment.
“She conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of the Stories podcast for Chora News,” said the media outlet, adding that it had not made Sala’s detention public sooner as her parents and Italian authorities had asked it to remain silent, hoping for the journalist’s swift release.