Iran expels AFP reporter for covering protests

Iran has expelled a reporter of the French news agency AFP for trying to cover a protest gathering, dpa reported with reference to news media sources in Tehran.

Jay Deshmukh, an Indian national who was deputy of the AFP bureau in Tehran, had apparently tried, together with his assistant, to cover a protest gathering on February 15 despite an official ban.

The 40-year-old Deshmukh had been working for the AFP in Tehran since 2009.

On 14 February, thousands of demonstrators came out in Tehran and other major Iranian cities. Organizers called a rally in solidarity with protestors in Egypt and Tunisia. However, Iranian security forces suppressed demonstrations across the country, reportedly attacking crowds with tear gas, paint bullets, sticks, electric batons and live ammunition. There were reports that one demonstrator was killed.

Dozens of reporters and photographers from the foreign media are said to have lost their accreditation for having tried to cover last month's protest demonstrations.

Since July 2009, the foreign media has officially been banned by the foreign press department of the culture ministry from directly covering the protests and contacting opposition figures.

The Iranian judiciary last month established a special prosecution office for offences related to media.


/Trend/