Iran: Further arrests of human rights defenders

On 20 December Iranian security forces arrested Shiva Nazarahari, Kouhyar Goudarzi and Saeed Haeri, members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR). This follows less than three weeks after the arrest of Saeed Kalanaki and Saeed Jalili, two other prominent members of CHRR.

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Ms Shiva Nazarahari had been released on 21 September after 100 days in custody without charge. Kouhyar Goudarzi, former secretary of the committee was sacked from his school prior to his arrest. Saeed Habibinia, Ms Parisa Kakaii and Ali Kalaai have also faced several judicial summonses and were forcefully asked to stop their human right activities. This appears to be part of a consistent pattern of repression against the CHRR by the Iranian authorities because of their legitimate human rights activities