Parisa Hafezi, Iran

2011 Courage in Journalism Award

Riot police armed with electric batons attacked Parisa Hafezi, as she struggled to cover the bloodshed and chaos on the streets of Tehran. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters marched, with many shouting, “We fight, we die.”

After fearlessly reporting on the violent protests, Hafezi was targeted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who threatened to arrest her. As Reuters bureau chief in Iran, Hafezi wouldn’t back down – while many local and foreign journalists fled the country after the disputed 2009 elections.

“Some reporters refused to use the Tehran dateline, but we weren’t afraid to show we were there. We didn’t move out; we were the first on the streets,” said Hafezi, 41, an Iranian-born veteran journalist. “We had to be strong and take the risks to report the stories.”

Hafezi, a 2011 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award winner, runs toward danger in Iran. She has endured beatings, interrogations and raids on her office and home for critical reporting. Hafezi has battled against tough restrictions on women and the media and fought efforts to censor reporting.

Undercover agents raided Reuters’ Tehran office after the massive June 2009 protests, screaming at Hafezi and her staff. They bolted the doors, seized video equipment and ransacked the office.

“While the head of the Revolutionary Guard team sat next to her and demanded (that) she show him our computer system, Parisa surreptitiously managed to send a computer message to a colleague in London to alert Reuters of the raid,” said Caroline Drees, Middle East managing editor of Reuters. “She hoped – and was right – that the Revolutionary Guards official would mistake the message for her login details.”

When she reported that President Ahmadinejad favored a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal in November 2009, she was summoned to the president’s office where officials demanded to know her source. She refused, telling them that if they wanted to deny the report she would publish the denial. They wouldn’t officially deny it, but threatened to revoke her press credentials.

Months later Hafezi was abducted by four men as she left her office, and taken to an unmarked building in Tehran. “Are you a spy?” they shouted, slapping her and pushing her for hours. At a time when anti-government protests were reigniting in February 2010, Iran security officials wanted to silence the media.

“Nobody knew where I was. They interrogated me and kept asking if I was having an illicit sexual relationship with former officials. I felt humiliated because I didn’t even know who they were talking about. I thought, ‘My god, I’m just doing my job and I’m being punished. As a single mother, everything is endangered,’ ” she said. “I don’t consider myself an activist – I’m a journalist trying to be impartial.

“I keep thinking that maybe as an Iranian woman I can take this opportunity to help other women, help the people be heard. That calms me down. I will do my job. I will do the interviews and tell the truth, “she said.

As violent protests abated in 2010, authorities attempted to intimidate Hafezi by revoking her press accreditation for 45 days and interrogating her when she traveled. Today the Reuters offices are under constant surveillance and experienced several break-ins, and staffers are convinced that e-mails and telephone lines are bugged. The government routinely calls Reuters “the Zionist news agency.”

Two security agents invaded Reuters’ Tehran office last March, demanding to know what reporters were writing and how they get their information. They searched the office and left, after warning Hafezi not to talk about the incident.

“I kept thinking I’d get arrested, but as you see I am still working here. I’m not censoring anything. I’m trying to be impartial and do my job reporting the facts, “she said. “Officials are worried they’ll get in trouble talking to us now, but we don’t stop.”

After learning she was being awarded IWMF’s 2011 Courage in Journalism in October, Hafezi was overwhelmed by the reaction in Iran. “Someone from the culture ministry’s office said, ‘Are you as brave as they say on the IWMF website?’ My reply was, ‘Yes, I am brave enough to stay here and continue to do my work.’ This will encourage other women colleagues in the Middle East who are facing the same problems. It encourages us all to do our jobs. I haven’t done anything wrong. More and more I’m getting congratulations from Iranian colleagues who were scared to say anything. Before I even had friends say, ‘Leave the country.’”

Working in a male-dominated culture with tight restrictions on women, Hafezi has turned the tables. “As a woman here, men are reluctant to reject you when you ask a question. They see I’m strong. I’m not scared.” She joined Reuters in 1999 as “a part-time nobody” with a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering and started covering stories within two years. One month before the controversial 2009 election, she was named Reuters’ Tehran bureau chief – the first woman to hold the post.

After a lifetime in Iran, Hafezi understands the conservative culture and the political games politicians play. “Everything that happens in Iran is politically motivated,” she said. Hafezi believes that Iran will “never give up its nuclear program or enrichment program” no matter who is in power.

“Iran is not what it looks like from the outside. All the political infighting and everything in the country doesn’t mean the regime has collapsed. There are fewer and fewer protests,” she said. “People are tired. We’ve had a revolution the past 30 years.”

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, Thailand
2011 Courage in Journalism Award

Facing the threat of a 20-year prison sentence for failing to delete critical remarks about the Thai monarchy on her website, Chiranuch Premchaiporn’s case has turned an international spotlight on Thailand’s draconian computer crime laws.

“They try to silence and control the people,” says Premchaiporn, 43, webmaster and director of Thailand’s Prachatai online newspaper. Thousands of comments streamed into her website daily, but government critics insist she should have immediately deleted 10 remarks posted by others that criticized the Thai monarchy – a criminal offense.

Premchaiporn – IWMF’s 2011 Courage in Journalism Award winner -- is free on bail and her trial, which began in February 2011, resumed this fall.  Her news website Prachatai suspended its online forums in July 2010. She is suing the Thai government for its illegitimate attempts to block Prachatai and has switched to server/web hosting services outside the country.

A year after the bloody military crackdown of a Red Shirt protest that ended in 92 deaths, the latest efforts to block Internet freedom have recharged critics of the government who have channeled their anger underground because of laws restricting freedom.

As the Thailand government moved to silence the opposition, Premchaiporn’s website became a target for censorship in March 2009. Police raided her office, interrogating her for five hours and seizing her computer equipment because of anti-monarch political postings on her website’s open forum.

“It was total chaos. After they searched the office they showed me an arrest warrant. They treated me like I was a criminal. I called my lawyer, and friends started coming to my office to support me and tweet about the arrest. There must have been 50 friends and journalists crowding the office,” she said.

“Everyone followed me to the police department’s crown suppression division. They questioned me for five hours. I was a little bit afraid when they took my fingerprints like I was a criminal,” said Premchaiporn, who was released on bail. ”I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong, but they were trying to silence the Internet platform and I am a target.”

Despite increasing government scrutiny, Premchaiporn -- who goes by the nickname “Jiew" -- remains determined to speak out about Internet freedom. Traveling back to Bangkok from an international conference in September 2010, she was pulled aside by Thai immigration officers and arrested. “I couldn’t believe it. I kept asking, ‘What’s the charge?’” she said. “It was the same thing all over again. I found out people had been posting ‘unlawful’ comments on the website.” Immigration police drove her five hours away to a remote police station in Khon Kaen, where she was questioned for hours and finally released after being charged with allowing anti-crown comments on her website.  She could face another 50 years in prison, if charges are brought against her in this case.

As her case gradually moves through Thailand’s court system, Premchaiporn continues managing her website’s 15-person staff. The popular Prachatai website, founded in 2004, has attracted worldwide support from Internet freedom organizations angered at Thailand’s restrictive, vague computer crimes act.

“The media in Thailand is afraid to cover issues relating to the royal family,” Premchaiporn. “Once it was announced that I received the Courage in Journalism Award, they covered my case and interviewed me. But there is fear.”

Although the Thai government has tightly controlled the press for the past 70 years, the latest efforts to crack down on the Internet have raised an international outcry. “In Thailand’s now highly charged political environment, Prachatai has been singled out for government harassment,” said Shawn Crispin, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ senior southeast Asia representative. “In recent years, authorities have shuttered tens of thousands of websites and pages, including Prachatai, for broadly defined reasons of national security. In 2007, Thailand implemented some of the most draconian legislation in the world aimed at curbing Internet freedoms.”

After the arrests, Premchaiporn has distanced herself from her parents and eight siblings to protect them. “My family isn’t involved in any political activities,” she said. “One of my sisters wanted me to resign, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I love my job as a journalist. It’s important to inform people.”

Within Thailand only about 27 percent of the people have Internet access, but officials fear “the power of the new media. When people are upset with the government, they turn to other sources of information. It’s hard for the government to control,” she said.

“The government singled me out to make an example,” said Prempchaiporn, who is convinced her phone is being tapped. “They should know that there are other ways around this – we will continue writing.”