"Cecilia Sala violated Islamic law." This was declared by the Iranian government, almost two weeks after the arrest of the Italian reporter, although it has not yet formalized specific charges.
A vague formula, which seems to confirm the hypotheses that have emerged since the beginning of the affair on the real intentions of the regime, that is, to use the young journalist as a bargaining chip. The Iranian vice-minister of foreign affairs himself, moreover, made it clear between the lines to the Italian ambassador. Mentioning, during the conversation, also the case of the drone engineer expert arrested in Italy, on whom an extradition request from the United States is pending.
Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi himself, during the meeting that took place this morning in the Opera prison with his lawyer Alfredo de Francesco, reiterated his non-involvement in the accusations, defining himself as "surprised". According to what his lawyer reported during the meeting, which lasted several hours, the case of the journalist Cecilia Sala was not discussed, but Abedini learned about it from the TV news in prison.
Yesterday the lawyer filed a petition with the Court of Appeal of Milan to request house arrest, also providing the address of a house in the Lombardy capital. The request also refers to the non-existence of the risk of escape and the lawyer on this point cites "also a highly qualified individual as a guarantee". The hearing in which the request will be examined will have to wait until next week.
(Online Union)
