CAJ calls for release of Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari

OTTAWA - The Canadian Association of Journalists strongly urges the federal government to maintain pressure on Iran to release journalist Maziar Bahari, who was taken in Tehran by Iranian security forces on Sunday night.

Bahari, 41, an Iranian-Canadian documentary filmmaker who writes for Newsweek magazine, has worked in that country for a decade and maintains homes in Toronto and Tehran. He has not been heard from since being detained. "Given what happened to Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who was raped and murdered while in Iranian custody after being arrested in 2003 for taking photographs at a protest, we are extremely concerned about Mr. Bahari's well being," said CAJ President Mary Agnes Welch.

Iran's government has cracked down on demonstrations protesting the allegedly fraudulent results of the June 12 presidential election which returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with more than 1,300 members across Canada. The CAJ's primary role is to provide public-interest advocacy and quality professional development for its members.