Dubai: Tehran confirmed Monday that an Italian journalist has been arrested on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, state media reported.
The country's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which oversees media activity, said in a statement that Cecilia Sala travelled to Iran on December 13 on a journalist visa and was arrested six days later on charges of violating the Islamic Republic's laws, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The statement also said that Sala's case is under investigation, adding that the Italian embassy in Tehran was informed after her arrest. It said that Sala's arrest was carried out under relevant regulations and she was granted consular access. She has also contacted her family by phone. On Friday, Italy's foreign ministry said the Iranian police detained Sala in the Iranian capital on December 19, while she was working with Iranian authorities “to clarify the legal situation of Sala and to verify the conditions of her detention.” Sala is a reporter for the Italian daily Il Foglio, which said she is being held in Tehran's Evin prison. Il Foglio said Sala was in Iran on a regular visa “to report on a country she knows and loves.”