ROME: An Italian journalist arrested in Iran and jailed for three weeks has been freed and is returning to Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said on Wednesday.
“The plane taking journalist Cecilia Sala home took off from Tehran a few minutes ago” following “intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Meloni’s office said in a statement.
“Our compatriot has been released by the Iranian authorities and is on her way back to Italy. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expresses her gratitude to all those who helped make Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to re-embrace her family and colleagues,” her office said.
Meloni personally informed Sala’s parents of her release by telephone, it added.
Sala, 29, was arrested on December 19, soon after the United States and Italy arrested two Iranian nationals over export violations linked to a deadly attack on American servicemen.
The journalist, who writes for the Italian daily Il Foglio and is the host of a news podcast produced by Chora Media, was kept in isolation in Tehran’s Evin prison.
Sala told her family she was forced to sleep on the floor in a cell with the lights permanently on.
Italy and Iran summoned each other’s ambassadors last week after Rome warned that efforts to secure her release were complicated.
Sala traveled to Iran on December 13 on a journalist’s visa. She was arrested six days later for “violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the country’s culture ministry, which oversees and accredits foreign journalists.
She had been due to return home the following day.
On Monday, Iran denied any link between Sala’s arrest and that of Iranian national Mohammad Abedini, detained in Italy in December at the behest of the United States over export violations linked to a deadly attack on US servicemen.
Jailed Italian reporter in Tehran freed, says Italy
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Jailed Italian reporter in Tehran freed, says Italy
WhatsApp says Russia ‘attempted to fully block’ app
- Moscow has been trying to nudge Russians to use a more tightly controlled domestic online service
SAN FRANCISCO, United States: WhatsApp said Wednesday that Russia “attempted to fully block” the messaging app in the country to push users to a competing state-controlled service, potentially affecting 100 million people.
Moscow has been trying to nudge Russians to use a more tightly controlled domestic online service.
It has threatened a host of Internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws, including those requiring data on Russian users to be stored inside the country.
“Today the Russian government attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app,” WhatsApp posted on X.
“Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” WhatsApp added.
“We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected.”
Critics and rights campaigners say the Russian restrictions are a transparent attempt by the Kremlin to ramp up control and surveillance over Internet use in Russia, amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent during the Ukraine offensive.
That latest developments came after Russia’s Internet watchdog said Tuesday it would slap “phased restrictions” on the Telegram messaging platform, which it said had not complied with the laws.
