(AKI) – Four journalists have been arrested in a new wave of media arrests in Iran.Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, journalist from the weekly Bahar Ahwaz, was arrested on Wednesday in Ahwaz, capital of the predominantly ethnic Arab province of Khuzestan on the Persian Gulf. Two years ago, Abedine Nasr spent five months in prison, and while he was busy with the recent lengthy strike of workers at the Haft Tappeh sugar factory, he was stopped twice by security police. His lawyers still do not know where the journalist is being held or on what charges.
Three other journalists from the northern region of Ghilan on the Caspian Sea, have also been arrested. Arash Bahmani, Babak Mehdizadeh and Kouhzad Esmaili were arrested and imprisoned after being found guilty of "offending the authorities" and "spreading false and biased news". A year ago, the three journalists had covered the visit of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the north of the country, harshly criticising the government. Bahmani has been jailed for 16 months, while the other two have been sentenced to four months in prison.