© Pouyan KhoshhalIranian journalist Pouyan Khoshhal, pictured, fled his home country after being detained for over two months and later sentenced to six years in prison over a single word.
In October 2018, authorities arrested Pouyan Khoshhal as he drove through the northern Iranian city of Rasht, by the Caspian Sea. The reason for the journalist's arrest:
his use of the word "death" instead of "martyrdom" to describe a Shiite saint in
an article for the reformist newspaper
Ebtekar.
Authorities had summoned Khoshhal on several occasions over his work, including a piece about babies born to imprisoned women.
But despite Ebtekar correcting the article the following day and issuing a statement announcing that it had dismissed the journalist, authorities detained Khoshhal for two months, including 10 days in solitary confinement. When he was released on bail,
guards ordered him to quit journalism and move away if "[he] wanted a quiet life," Khoshhal said.
On December 15, 2018, the judiciary charged Khoshhal with
"encouraging the public to commit crimes against Islamic values," "insulting Islamic values," and "insulting the divinity of Imam Hussein and other members of the Prophet's blessed family."
Ultimately, he was sentenced to six years in prison, a verdict that Tehran's Appeal Court upheld on July 9, 2019, with neither Khoshhal or his lawyer present. Fearing for his life and unwilling to serve such a harsh sentence over a single published word, Khoshhal said that he fled into exile.
Iran's repressive treatment of journalists has led
many to go into exile. Most independent journalists find the choices stifling: work for censored state-run outlets or risk being imprisoned for their work. After fleeing Iran, often having to cross borders illegally or slip away while on trips abroad — like Iranian state news agency journalist Amir Tohid Fazel, whose
escape on a government trip to Sweden in August was reported by CNN — they are presented with new challenges including proving the threats against them when applying for asylum and being able to continue work as a journalist.
Comment: Indian PM Modi summons ministers as death toll rises in ongoing protests against India citizenship act More than 20 people are killed in the violence related Citizenship Amendment Act that is passed by the Indian Parliament. 18 people were killed in the largest indian state of Uttar Pradesh(UP). UP police claimed that majority of deaths due to firing from protestors.