A/HRC/19/82 large number of journalists. According to various sources, 43 more than 40 journalists are currently imprisoned, with at least seven journalists and bloggers detained solely in January 2012. This includes the arrest of women’s rights activist and blogger, Parastou Dokouhaki, on 15 January 2012; and the arrest of the journalists Marzieh Rasouli, on 17 January on charges of “acting against national security”; Sahamoddin Bourghani, on 18 January; and Saeed Madadi, on 7 January. Furthermore, on 15 January, the Director of the official Iranian news agency IRNA and the press adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, was given a one-year suspended jail sentence and a five-year ban on membership of parties, groups and associations, as well as on journalistic and media activities concerning topics deemed contrary to Islamic norms and public morals. 44 32. On 29 January 2012, the Supreme Court reportedly upheld the death sentence for blogger Saeed Malekpour on charges of “corruption on earth” for having developed a website considered obscene in Persian.45 IT professionals Vahid Asghari and Ahmad Reza Hashempour were also sentenced to death by a lower court on similar charges. In a recent report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression stressed that the imprisonment of bloggers was a clear example of the criminalization of legitimate expression, pointing out that 13 bloggers had been imprisoned in the Islamic Republic on charges relating to the content of their online expression. 46 33. Journalists and other media professionals working with foreign-based media outlets have also faced arrest on suspicion of espionage. The arrests on 17 September 2011 of independent documentary film-makers Hadi Afarideh, Shahnam Bazdar, Mojtaba Mitahmasb, Naser Saffarian, Katayoun Shahabi and Mohsen Shahrnazdar in connection with a BBC documentary about the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparked widespread protests and criticism. On 20 September, the authorities stated that the people arrested had carried out anti-Iranian missions by providing the BBC with information.47 The BBC rejected the allegations and stressed that none of the six Iranian film makers had been involved in the production of the documentary. In December 2011, the official news agency ISNA reported that all six film-makers were released after each posted the equivalent of $200,000 bail.48 On 13 November, the Iranian authorities reported the arrest of Hassan Fathi for working secretly for the Persian language service of the BBC. Mr. Fathi was charged with “spreading lies” about the Islamic Republic and attempting to manipulate public opinion.49 On 6 February 2012, State media again reported the arrest of people secretly working for the Persian language services of BBC. 50 Reports also suggest that the authorities routinely harass, intimidate, question and detain relatives of Iranian journalists working with foreign-based media.51 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 12 “Imprisonments jump worldwide, and Iran is worst”, Committee to Protect Journalist, 28 December 2011. (available from www.cpj.org/reports/2011/12/journalist-imprisonments-jump-worldwide-andiran-i.php); and “IFJ condemns the latest arrest of journalists in Iran”, International Federation of Journalists, 20 January 2012 (available from www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-latest-arrests-ofjournalists-in-iran). ISNA, 15 January 2012. Available from www.isna.ir/ISNA/newsView.aspx?ID=news-1930881. Ibid., 29 January 2012. See www.isna.ir/ISNA/newsView.aspx?ID=news-1938826&lang=p. A/HRC/17/27, para. 35. PressTV, 21 October 2011. Seewww.presstv.com/detail/205889.html. ISNA, 9 November 2011. See www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1888068. Mehrnews, 13 November 2011. Seewww.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=1459580. Ibid., 6 February 2012. Seewww.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1527384. The BBC reported that it had seen “disturbing new tactics”, including the targeting of family members of those working outside the Islamic Republic of Iran. It reported, for example, that the sister of a BBC Persian staff member had been detained and held in solitary confinement at a Tehran jail. See “Iran accused of intimidating BBC Persian staff”, BBC news, 3 February 2012, Available