Journalist Cecilia Sala in detention in Iran. The Foreign Ministry: “We are working on it”

Brussels – “This is how Tehran has chosen to defy everything the West considers transversally untouchable: our freedom.” These words begin the op-ed by Il Foglio editor Claudio Cerasa, which, as of this morning, is at the top of the newspaper’s website with the headline “Journalism is not a crime.” The news, a tragic one spread today (Dec. 27) by the national media that has shocked the Italian news world, is the incarceration of journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran.

According to what the Foreign Ministry released in the morning, the reporter, who collaborates with Il Foglio and the podcast platform Chora Media, was arrested in Tehran last Dec. 19, but Italian Ambassador Paola Amadei was only able to visit her in jail today. The Farnesina note stresses that “the Italian Embassy and Consulate in Tehran have been following the case with the utmost attention since its inception” and that from Rome, they are working “with the Iranian authorities to clarify Cecilia Sala’s legal situation and to verify the conditions of her detention.”

At the time of detention, Sala had been in the Islamic Republic since Dec. 12 to carry out her work and had a regular journalistic visa. She was supposed to return on Dec. 20. Still, on the morning of the 19th, she became unreachable: a few hours later, she briefly contacted her family to report that she had been detained without providing further details. “She was taken to the Evin prison, where dissidents are held, and the reason for her arrest has not yet been formalised,” reads a post shared on the social accounts of Chora, which launched the hashtag #FreeCecilia. For the past week, the journalist has reportedly been held in solitary confinement.

 

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A post shared by Chora Media | Podcast (@choramedia)

According to the Post, in whose editorial office Sala’s partner Daniele Raineri works, the journalist was granted two brief phone calls after 24 hours of detention, one to her family and one to Raineri himself. “During the phone calls, Sala said she was fine and not hurt,” the newspaper’s website reads. “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 other information.”

Reactions to the professional’s arrest have not been long in coming. In addition to the mobilisation of fellow journalists, comments from Italian politicians have multiplied in recent hours, condemning the incident across party lines, starting with government members. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stressed that “negotiations with Iran cannot be resolved, unfortunately, with the involvement of Western public opinion and the force of popular outrage, but only with high-level political and diplomatic action,” adding that “Italy is working tirelessly to free her, following every avenue.”

In a note, the 5-Star Movement delegation to the EU Parliament writes, “We demand immediate explanations from the government in Tehran for the arrest of a journalist committed to reporting on reality with professionalism and courage,” adding that it trusts “in the work of Italian diplomacy to obtain her release as quickly as possible.”

For Lega MEP Susanna Ceccardi, Sala is “a free voice that, as such, is inconvenient to the regime” of the ayatollahs: “I hope that this affair will be resolved positively,” she said, “with the hope that the EU institutions will also make their voices heard.” Fellow MEP Sandro Gozi also shared this hope, writing on X: “The Italian government and the European Union will work without delay to obtain the immediate release” of the journalist.

The Italian government and the European Union will work without delay to obtain the immediate #release of #Cecilia #Sala. Courage Cecilia, we are with you! pic.twitter.com/8cSELyKzEc

– Sandro Gozi (@sandrogozi) December 27, 2024

Blogger Alessia Piperno had also stayed for a month and a half in 2022 in the Evin prison, where the Tehran regime locks up Iranian dissidents and foreign nationals. “To Cecilia Sala, ideally, I say hold on as I did for 45 days: in the Evin prison, foreigners physically don’t get a hair twisted, but mentally, they try you a lot. I know what the terror of being in a cell alone is like,” said Piperno. Who adds, “I’m afraid it was a trap for all intents and purposes because the authorities in Tehran, who generally refuse visas to Western journalists, knew full well that she is a reporter.”