The Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, in Iran to carry out journalistic services, was arrested on December 19 by the Tehran police authorities. She has been in an isolation cell for a week .

The Farnesina announced: "By order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, the Italian embassy and consulate in Tehran have been following the case with the utmost attention since its inception. In coordination with the Presidency of the Council, the Farnesina has worked with the Iranian authorities to clarify Sala's legal situation and verify the conditions of his detention. Today, the Italian ambassador Paola Amadei made a consular visit to verify the conditions and state of detention of Dr. Sala . The family was informed of the results of the visit."

The journalist was taken to Evin prison, where dissidents are held . " The reason for her incomprehensible arrest has not yet been formalized ," reads a note from Chora Media, which specifies, "we are making the news public only now because the Italian authorities and Cecilia's parents had asked us to remain silent, a silence that they hoped could lead to a rapid release, which unfortunately has not yet occurred."

"Cecilia - the note continues - had left Rome for Iran on December 12 with a regular journalist visa and the protections of a traveling journalist. She had done a series of interviews and produced three episodes of her podcast Stories by Chora News. She was supposed to return to Rome on December 20, but on the morning of the 19th, after exchanging messages, her phone went silent. Knowing Cecilia, who has always sent the audio for the podcast episodes with extreme punctuality even from the Ukrainian front in the most difficult moments, we were worried and, together with her partner, the Post journalist Daniele Raineri , we alerted the Crisis Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We called her Iranian contacts, but no one knew where she had ended up. On Friday morning she did not board the return flight and the situation became even more distressing".

The phone was turned on a few hours later, when Cecilia Sala was allowed to make two phone calls. To her mother and her partner : "During the phone calls, Sala said she was fine and not hurt. It is possible that she had to read a written text, because she used some expressions that do not sound natural in Italian, but seem more like a translation from English. She was not allowed to give any further information," the Post reported.

Sala is a professional journalist who works for Chora News and Il Foglio. In her podcast she told « stories about the patriarchy in the country and about the Iranian comedian Zeinab Musavi, arrested by the regime for sketches of one of her characters . She also spoke with Hossein Kanaani, one of the founders of the Revolutionary Guards who for almost half a century had contributed to creating the extensive network of pro-Iranian militias operating in the Middle East».

" Unacceptable arrest ," declared Defense Minister Guido Crosetto . "The entire government has moved to have her released. Unfortunately, negotiations with Iran cannot be resolved with the involvement of Western public opinion and the strength of popular indignation, but only with high-level political and diplomatic action."

"Ideally, I tell Cecilia Sala to hold on as I did for 45 days: in Evin prison they don't physically harm us foreigners, but mentally they try you a lot. I know what it means to be terrified of being alone in a cell. I hug her parents, I imagine their pain which is like what mine felt", says Alessia Piperno, the writer and travel blogger arrested in Iran in 2022 and then released after 45 days of detention in Evin prison .

"Our cases," Piperno continues, "are different. I was traveling, she is in Iran with an eight-day journalist visa. I fear that it was a trap in all respects because the authorities in Tehran, who generally refuse visas to Western journalists, knew very well that she is a reporter ."

(Unioneonline/L)

© Riproduzione riservata