A young 30-year-old Iranian journalist, Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad, living in France since 2020 and freshly graduated from the Lille journalism school, has been detained in Tehran since the end of September, the Arte television channel announced on Saturday October 29.

The latter had gone on a report, "mandated by the company Keyi Productions and the editorial staff of Information d'Arte", "to cover the events that have shaken the country" since the death of Mahsa Amini, according to the press release from the channel.

Left on September 23, he worked "in perfect transparency vis-à-vis the authorities", denounces Arte, which specifies that he had "submitted a letter of accreditation as well as the coordinates of his French press card, with the authorities in Tehran".

According to the channel, Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad was arrested in the city of Saqqez, in Iranian Kurdistan before being transferred to Tehran. 

Support for Iranian journalist Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad.


The CP ➡ https://t.co/pgUrduNXpn@ARTEfr #ARTEJournal @ARTEinfo #Information #Journalism #Iran pic.twitter.com/ANL27E3Wch

— ARTE pro (@ARTEpro) October 29, 2022

The announcement of his arrest sparked a wave of solidarity in France.

"I feel a lot of emotion both among the students and among the school staff who rubbed shoulders with Vahid during his two years of study," said Pierre Savary, director of ESJ Lille, on France Info.

We "think of him, his family, his relatives and colleagues and hope for his release," said a statement from the school.

"We call for the immediate release of Vahid [...]. Muzzling journalists will not prevent the truth from coming out or their colleagues from doing their job", for its part denounced the Society of Journalists of France 24 in a communicated.

We call for Vahid's immediate release and think very much of him and his loved ones during these difficult days.

Muzzling journalists will not prevent the truth from coming out or their colleagues from doing their job.

#solidarity #Iran https://t.co/Xjow5NxNtG

– The SDJ of France 24 (@SDJ_France24) October 30, 2022

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app