Italian journalist Cecilia Sala freed from detention in Iran
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Sala, who had been detained since 19 December, is flying home, Italian PM’s office says. Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist detained in solitary confinement in Iran, has been freed and is heading back to Italy. A plane carrying the 29-year-old took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels”, a statement from the office of the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said. The flight is due to arrive at Rome’s Ciampino airport at 3.30pm local time.
Sala, a reporter for Il Foglio, was arrested on 19 December on charges of breaching Islamic law – three days after she arrived in the country on a journalist visa. Her plight had become intertwined with that of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, an Iranian engineer arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a US warrant a few days before Sala was detained.
Najafabadi is accused of supplying drone components to Tehran. Prosecutors in Milan on Tuesday denied a request for house arrest from Najafabadi’s defence lawyers. A hearing is scheduled on 15 January. As of Wednesday morning, it was unclear how Sala’s release would influence Najafabadi’s case.
Iran on Monday denied there was a link between Sala’s arrest and that of Abedini. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, said Sala had been arrested for “violating the law of the Islamic republic” during her reporting trip. The journalist’s release comes a few days after Meloni made a flying visit to Donald Trump’s Florida golf club, during which she reportedly “pressed hard” on Sala’s case.
