Joel Simon, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists, writes about the safety of journalists for CJR.
In the aftermath of the horrific murders of Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris, one might think attacks on journalists tend to be dramatic, galvanizing events in which the fault lines are sharply drawn. But the voice of a free press is most often muffled in far less visible ways; through pressure, intimidation, imprisonment, and exile.
Take Iranian journalist Siamak Ghaderi, who demonstrated extraordinary courage in covering the Green Movement that erupted following the disputed 2009 presidential elections in his country. Ghaderi had spent nearly two decades working for the Islamic Republic News Agency, a semi-official news organization. But in the dramatic moments when Iranians took to the streets, he observed a festival of lies from the official media he worked for, and wanted no part of it. Ghaderi created a personal blog he called IRNA-ye maa, or Our IRNA, to provide an honest accounting of events–like the brutal beatings, shootings, and other abuses perpetrated on the demonstrators.
“I was summoned twice by the authorities and told to stop reporting on the shootings, the protests, and other events, ” Ghaderi told me in a recent conversation.
Ghaderi’s refusal to succumb to censorship took him on an agonizing journey, from an Iranian prison to a quiet suburb of Washington DC. He views life in the US as a temporary refuge, one he is anxious to leave behind. But he is caught between his stubborn bravery and a recognition that a return home could lead to his re-arrest and further hardship for his family. His tale shows how the struggle for press freedom is often personal and private and that these battles are seldom surfaced.
Ghaderi was arrested in July 2009 and five months later was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison: three years for attending the protest rallies and one year for making propaganda against the regime. For reporting on the presence of gays in Iran–which contradicted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s assertion that there were no “homosexuals” in the country–Ghaderi was fined and given a sentence of 60 lashes.
He spent the first nine months of his imprisonment blindfolded, isolated, and subject to continuous interrogation. As for the 60 lashes, “It’s not like they hang you upside naked and whip you until you bleed,” he noted. “The punishment is largely psychological and symbolic. Your family is affected and it creates a negative stigma.”
In the summer of 2014, when Ghaderi was still in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists selected him for an International Press Freedom Award. We hoped to draw attention to the sacrifice made by this brave journalist, and the dozens of others jailed in Iran for reporting the news. A month later–five years after his initial arrest–Ghaderi was finally released. Now he’s on a new journey that has taken him to a life in the United States.
Ghaderi emerged from jail unbowed and was determined to come to New York in November to receive his CPJ award despite the obvious risk that it could further anger the regime. “It’s not illegal for an Iranian journalist to receive an award,” he said at the time.
But there was a problem. The Iranians, surprisingly, provided Ghaderi with a passport. Getting a visa to enter the United States would be the tricky part.
Since the US has no diplomatic relations with Iran, Ghaderi had to travel to Ankara, Turkey to reach the nearest US embassy. The CPJ Middle East team reached out to the embassy staff there, and asked that they give Ghaderi’s application special attention. CPJ board member Christiane Amanpour wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry to alert him to Ghaderi’s request. That seemed to jar the gears loose, and visa in hand, Ghaderi and his family arrived in the US in mid-November.
In a video profile produced by ABC News for the award ceremony, Ghaderi described how he covered the 2009 demonstrations by motorcycle: “Whatever I saw or heard, I’d report.”
“I’m coming to the US to thank the people who have supported me,” he continued. “And if I have to pay for it, I will pay for it. I have no problem with it. But I do demand my human rights.”
Introduced at the November 25 awards ceremony by Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, whose own story of imprisonment was told in the movie Rosewater, Ghaderi took the stage with a green scarf draped around his shoulders, a reference to the Green Movement that he covered and supported. He and Bahari even posed for a selfie from the stage.
With glue great Iranian journalist Siamak Ghaderi at CPJ awards in New York @pressfreedom #IPFA pic.twitter.com/nquHhWo02p
— Maziar Bahari (@maziarbahari) November 26, 2014
When I spoke with Ghaderi at the reception following the awards ceremony, he was just as defiant. He told me he planned to establish his family in the United Stated, and then go back to Iran to report the news.
But when I caught up with him last week his mood had tempered. We spoke by Skype from Virginia where he is living with wife and teenage son. He looked relaxed, but he acknowledged that the adjustment has been difficult, particularly following the emotional high of the award. He said his plan now is to develop a program to train Iranian journalists, and that initially he would do so from the US.
“Because of the political instability, I’m not sure what awaits me [if I return],” he acknowledged. “It’s easier for me to start things from here.” He is struggling with isolation and in the ultimate backhanded compliment, noted, “Life is hard in the US, but it’s better than my time in prison.”
With limited English, Ghaderi spends his day with his head almost entirely in Iran. He is following developments closely, writing a prison memoir, and continuing to use his blog and his Facebook page to chronicle newsworthy developments in his country.
Over the last decade, CPJ has provided assistance and support for over 400 journalists who have been forced into exile in the last five years. Only 5 percent of them have returned home to their countries. Still, I am betting on Ghaderi to beat odds and return to Iran to do what he does best–report the news. He remains determined and optimistic.
“Iran is a very strange country and things change very quickly,” he pointed out. “The government is quite scared and has lost legitimacy. Things are moving slow in terms of political changes, but I don’t expect it to take too long.”
Joel Simon is the founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.