Italian journalist Cecilia Sala released from detention in Iran

Cecilia Sala, a journalist for the Italian daily newspaper Il Foglio, has been released from detention in Iran. She is already flying home. This was reported by Reuters, citing a statement from the office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni.

The statement said that Sala was released «thanks to intensive work through diplomatic and intelligence channels».

In recent years, Iranian security forces have arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals, mostly on charges of espionage and security threats. Human rights groups have accused Iran of trying to squeeze concessions from other countries through such arrests, but the country's authorities deny this.

As a reminder, on December 12, Cecilia Sala traveled to Tehran on a journalistic visa, where she worked on a report about the new stricter rules for wearing the hijab. She was supposed to return to Italy on December 20, but on the morning of December 19, contact with Cecilia was lost. It later became known that Iranian police had detained the journalist.

Cecilia was being held in the isolation ward of Evin prison, where dissidents and opponents of the Iranian regime are usually held. Only a week after her detention was the Italian ambassador able to visit the journalist and check on her condition.

In late December, Iranian authorities confirmed for the first time that Salah had been arrested on the grounds of «violation of the laws of the Islamic Republic».

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has demanded that Iranian authorities release arrested journalist Cecilia Sala from the Italian daily newspaper Il Foglio as soon as possible. The head of the Italian government said that he wants to return Sala “home as soon as possible”.

On December 30, the Executive Board of Ukrainian PEN issued a statement in support of journalist Cecilia Sala. It called on international human rights organizations and media to fight for the journalist's release.

Cecilia Sala is a professional international journalist specializing in hot spots, collaborates with the newspaper Il Foglio and is the author of the famous daily podcast Stories, in which she tells stories from around the world. Cecilia Sala has reported from Afghanistan, Venezuela, Iran, Sakartvelo (Georgia), and South Sudan.

Cecilia devoted much of her journalistic work to Ukraine and the Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. In 2022, Cecilia visited Chernihiv under siege, and in 2023, flooded Kherson after the Russian explosion at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. In addition, she has been to the front line in eastern Ukraine many times.

She told the Italian audience about Roman Ratushny and Yevhenia Zakrevska, about the young generation of Ukrainians who are holding back the Russian invasion. In particular, stories from Ukraine were included in Cecilia's book «Incendio» («Fire»), which was published in 2023 by the most famous Italian publishing house Mondadori.