Iran: Iranian Female Photojournalist Missing

A female sports photojournalist who had campaigned for Iranian women to be allowed to attend men's soccer games is missing amid reports she has been taken into custody in Tehran, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. Maryam Majd, 24, was supposed to go to Duesseldorf on June 17 to prepare for the women's soccer World Cup in Germany and to work on a photo project with Petra Landers, a former German soccer player. But in a letter subsequently sent to the German Foreign Ministry and the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, Landers says Majd never arrived.

Landers said Majd called her on June 17 saying she was about to get on the flight, but the airline has since confirmed she never boarded.

Meanwhile, an Iran-based source close to Majd told Radio Farda on June 21 that "four men, most likely from the Intelligence Ministry, went to Majd's father's house on June 16 and arrested her after searching her room."

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that her family said the men also took some of Majd's personal belongings with them. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said Majd's family has so far refrained from talking to the media about their daughter's situation.

Majd is a member of a campaign that supports Iranian women being allowed to attend men's soccer matches, which is currently forbidden in Iran.

She has worked with the banned magazine "Zanan" ("Women), the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), and the sports daily "Tamasha."

Read more in Persian here

22 June 2011