Syrians say Dorothy Parvaz has been deported to Iran
COMMENTARY | May 12, 2011
The Al Jazeera reporter, a 2009 Nieman Fellow, has been out of contact since landing at the airport in Damascus April 29. Al Jazeera has been told that she is now being held in Tehran.
Al Jazeera is reporting that Syria has deported journalist Dorothy Parvaz, a 2009 Nieman Fellow, to Iran. Parvaz had been detained by Syrian officials after landing in Damascus on April 29 to cover protests in the country. She has not been heard from since. Parvaz holds Iranian, American and Canadian citizenship and has worked for Al Jazeera since 2010.
An Al Jazeera spokesman said the news agency has received information that Parvaz is now being held in Tehran. Iranian officials have not yet confirmed the report. "We are calling for information from the Iranian authorities, access to Dorothy, and for her immediate release," the spokesman said. "We have had no contact with Dorothy since she left Doha on 29 April and we are deeply concerned for her welfare." (Read more from Al Jazeera here.)
Nieman curator Bob Giles said, “It is difficult to assess the meaning of this development. The Nieman community worldwide is deeply concerned for her safety and strenuously objects to the possibility that she has been detained because she is a journalist. I extend a formal request to the government of Iran to release Dorothy Parvaz as quickly as possible, if she, in fact, is being held in the country.”
A statement from the Parvaz family said: "Dorothy is a dearly loved daughter, sister and fiancée, and a committed journalist. It is now nearly two weeks since she was detained. We appeal once again for Dorothy to be released immediately and returned to us."
Parvaz is an experienced journalist who joined Al Jazeera in 2010. She graduated from the University of British Columbia, obtained a masters from Arizona University, and held journalism fellowships at both Harvard and Cambridge. She previously worked as a columnist and feature writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Journalists have faced ever increasing restrictions in Syria since the protests began.
For a complete list of Dorothy's feature articles on Al Jazeera, view her profile. And here is an earlier Nieman Foundation report.
