Iranian refugee and journalist Kaveh Taheri, who lives in Turkey, was detained on Jan 26 in the northwestern province of Sakarya while traveling to a visa appointment at the French Consulate.
Taheri, who is recognized as a refugee by both Turkey and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), remains in administrative detention at the Kocaeli Repatriation Center.
Taheri’s lawyer Salih Efe told bianet that the detention and deportation process was unlawful. “There is no legitimate, proportional, or concrete justification. The case file contains neither an intelligence report nor any evidence supporting the claims."
Awaiting humanitarian visa to Europe
According to Efe, Taheri was on a bus heading to the French Consulate in İstanbul to apply for a humanitarian visa when he was detained in Sakarya on Jan 26. He added that Taheri held a valid travel permit for the journey.
An administrative detention order was issued on Jan 27, followed by a deportation order on Jan 28 on the grounds of "activities against national security." He said the authorities had applied Code G-82, a frequently used designation in immigration law.
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“The national security argument is like a catch-all sack," said Efe. "Anyone who dissents, writes, or criticizes their own country can be thrown into it.
"My client has not said a single word against Turkey. Yet they claim, ‘You are operating in our country and threatening our national security.’ If you ask them, they say there is freedom of expression in Turkey.
"They want to deport someone who hasn’t uttered a word about Turkey. As lawyers working on human rights, we know that when the state wants to deport someone, it does. The law is disregarded.”
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Previous detentions
Efe noted that Taheri had been placed in administrative detention on two prior occasions for similar reasons, but both attempts were halted by court rulings. He said they have filed a lawsuit with the administrative court against the most recent decision, which has temporarily suspended the deportation process.
However, he pointed out that administrative detention can last for months, even up to a year. Efe said this has effectively become a form of punishment akin to “pre-trial detention without charge.”
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‘He has no chance of survival in Iran’
According to Efe, deporting Taheri to Iran would constitute a clear violation of international law.
“Taheri was prosecuted in revolutionary courts in Iran. He served prison time in 2011. He has outstanding prison sentences," he said. "One of the journalists he worked with, Ruhollah Zam, was executed. If he is returned to Iran, there is a 100 percent risk to his life.”
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Efe recalled that Iranian dissidents have sometimes been deported to third countries in secret, and that another journalist previously extradited to Iran by Turkey was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Efe emphasized that Taheri has lived in Turkey for 11 years and, under the Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), cannot be deported.
CPJ calls for immediate release
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also issued a statement on Jan 30 regarding Taheri’s detention. The statement highlighted that Taheri is a refugee recognized by the UN and urged Turkey to “immediately release him and halt deportation efforts.”
Sara Qudah, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator, said, “Deporting Kaveh Taheri to Iran would put his life in serious danger. Turkey must abide by its international obligations.”
Taheri’s sister, Laleh Taheri, told CPJ they learned of the detention from a brief WhatsApp message her brother sent. “If he is sent back to Iran, it will be fatal for him,” she said.
Forced confession allegations
According to CPJ, Taheri was detained by Iranian intelligence in 2012 and held for about a year at Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz. During this time, he was reportedly tortured and forced to sign a false confession.
Taheri is the founder of a YouTube channel called ICBPS. He has previously contributed to international outlets such as HuffPost and The Times of Israel, and more recently published analyses on Iran and international politics via Substack.
Data on the imprisonment of journalists in Iran varies across international organizations, as different reports are compiled at different times using different criteria. However, all reports consistently indicate that Iran is among the countries with the highest number of imprisoned journalists.
The latest reports from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) state that 41 journalists are currently imprisoned in Iran. This number spiked during waves of protest and has remained high in recent periods.
CPJ and RSF estimate that hundreds of journalists were detained and briefly imprisoned during the protests.
In RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, Iran ranks as the fourth worst country—176th out of 180. (HA/VK)
