page_title: 2009 Iranian presidential election protests
section_title: News media
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 Iranian presidential election protests / Government reaction / Censorship / News media
caption_attribution_description: silent demonstration from Hafte tir Sq. to Enghelaagh Sq., Tehran, June 16 - part of the 2009 Iranian election protests
context_page_description: Protests against the results of the highly controversial 2009 Iranian presidential election, a disputed victory by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, occurred in major cities nationwide from 2009 into early 2010. The protests were titled the Iranian Green Movement by its proponents, reflecting Mousavi's campaign theme, and Persian Awakening, Persian Spring or Green Revolution, reflecting the "Persian identity" of Iranians and the so-called "colour revolution" theme.
  Protests began the night of 12 June 2009, following the announcement that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won nearly 63 percent of the vote, despite several reported irregularities. However, all three opposition candidates claimed the votes were manipulated and the election was rigged, with Rezaee and Mousavi lodging official complaints. Mousavi announced he "won't surrender to this manipulation", before lodging an official appeal against the result to the Guardian Council on 14 June. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered an investigation into the claims of electoral fraud and irregularities, as requested by Green Movement leaders.
context_section_description: According to the Telegraph, on 14 June "Iran's regime was doing its utmost to choke off the flow of news from its capital". Al Jazeera English has leveled allegations of direct media censorship by the Iranian government, stating that "some of the newspapers have been given notices to change their editorials or their main headlines". The Al Arabiya's offices in Tehran were closed on 14 June for a week by Iranian authorities, who gave no explanation for the decision. NBC News offices in Tehran were raided, with cameras and other equipment confiscated. Meanwhile, the director of BBC World Service accused the Iranian Government of jamming its broadcasts to the country. Peter Horrocks said audiences in Iran, the Middle East, and Europe had been affected by an electronic block on satellites used to broadcast the BBC Persian Television signal to Iran, adding: "It seems to be part of a pattern of behaviour by the Iranian authorities to limit the reporting of the aftermath of the disputed election". A BBC corporate official has referred to the network's conflict with the regime as 'electronic warfare'.
  On 15 June, Belgian national television reporter Jef Lambrecht from the Flemish public television broadcaster VRT and his sound technician, Vandervorst, were arrested in Tehran. They had been doing a story on the riots and had gotten caught in the middle of the violence. While Lambrecht had taken a punch, Vandervorst was arrested by riot police. When Lambrecht went to check where Vandervorst was being taken, he was promptly arrested as well. Both were taken to the Ministry of Information and detained in the basement. They were both released after two hours with strict instructions not to make any photos or film recordings of the protests. At the same time, two Dutch reporters from Nova were also arrested and deported.
  On 16 June, the Ministry of Culture issued a directive banning all foreign media from leaving their offices. This directive stipulated that international news outlets could still talk about rallies in their live reports, however, they were not allowed to leave their hotel rooms and offices to witness the protests. Iranian government-run television was not affected by the restrictions. On 20 June, the Ministry of Culture intensified the restrictions by banning international media from reporting on the demonstrations altogether unless they received permission from Iranian authorities.
  On 5 August, the Association of Iranian Journalists was forcibly closed when its offices in Tehran were raided by government security forces. The International Federation of Journalists released a statement criticizing the Iranian government for the forcible closure of the Association of Iranian Journalists and calling for freedom of the press.
  BBC correspondent John Simpson was arrested, his material confiscated, and then released. Reporters from the Italian public television broadcaster RAI stated that one of its interpreters was beaten with clubs by riot police and the officers then confiscated the cameraman's tapes. ABC News reporter Jim Sciutto has also had material taken. People from the German public broadcasters ZDF and ARD have been harassed as well, with men carrying batons and knives reportedly storming the ARD's Tehran office and taking the technician for further questioning (who was released the day after).
  Ahmadinejad responded to civil liberties concerns by stating Iranians enjoyed "absolute freedom" of speech. "Don't worry about freedom in Iran ... Newspapers come and go and reappear. Don't worry about it."
  On 5 July 2009, the Sunday Times reported that the Iranian state media have been transmitting "confessions" by demonstrators against the alleged rigging of the presidential vote claiming they did so under the influence of the Voice of America, the BBC, and other foreign media agencies. Their faces have been obscured in the TV broadcasts, which the newspaper claims, after speaking to witnesses, is due to facial bruising resulting from torture whilst in custody, which included several instances of male rape.
caption: Silent demonstration from Hafte Tir Square to Enqelab Square, Tehran, 16 June 2009
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