VOA Persian: Prisoner dies in prison after medical care denied
VOA has learned that a prisoner with cancer who was denied medical care by the authorities of Ghezel Hesar Prison on the pretext of "lack of funds" has died after being transferred to the hospital late.
Click here for the full story in Persian.
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Voice of America
14-03-2025
- Voice of America
Exclusive: Second Iranian ship suspected of carrying missile ingredient leaves China
A second Iranian ship that Western news reports have named as part of a scheme to import a missile propellant ingredient from China is heading to Iran with a major cargo load, an exclusive VOA analysis has found. Ship-tracking websites show the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Jairan departed China on Monday, a month later than the expected departure cited by one of the news reports. The Jairan was named in January and February articles by The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and CNN as one of two Iranian cargo ships Tehran is using to import 1,000 metric tons of sodium perchlorate from China. The three news outlets cited unnamed Western intelligence sources as saying the purported shipment could be transformed into enough ammonium perchlorate — a key solid fuel propellant component — to produce 260 midrange Iranian missiles. The other Iranian cargo ship named in the news reports, the Golbon, completed a 19-day journey from eastern China to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Feb. 13. During the trip, it made a two-day stop at southern China's Zhuhai Gaolan port and delivered an unknown cargo to Iran, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic. Both the Golbon and the Jairan are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department as vessels operated by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, which itself is sanctioned for being what the State Department has called "the preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents." As the Golbon sailed from China to Iran in late January and early February, the Jairan's automatic identification system transponder — a device that transmits positional and other data as part of an internationally mandated tracking system — reported the vessel as being docked at eastern China's Liuheng Island. In a joint review of the Jairan's AIS data on MarineTraffic and fellow ship-tracking website Seasearcher, VOA and Dubai-based intelligence analyst Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group determined that the Jairan reported no significant draught change while docked at Liuheng Island through February and into early March. That meant the Iranian vessel was sitting at the almost same depth in the water as when it arrived in eastern China late last year, indicating it had not been loaded with any major cargo since then. The Jairan remained at Liuheng Island until March 3, when it headed south toward Zhuhai Gaolan and docked at the port on March 8. Two days later, the Jairan departed, reporting its destination as Bandar Abbas with an expected arrival of March 26. The Iranian ship also reported a significant draught change upon leaving Zhuhai Gaolan, transmitting data showing it was sitting more than 2 meters deeper in the water and indicating it had taken on a major cargo at the port, Kelly told VOA. As of Friday, local time, the Jairan was in the waters of Indonesia's Riau Archipelago, heading southwest toward the Singapore Strait. The U.S. State Department had no comment on the Jairan's departure from China when contacted by VOA. Iran's U.N. mission in New York did not respond to a similar VOA request for comment, emailed on Tuesday. Last month, the State Department told VOA it was aware of the January news reports by The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal regarding Iran's purported use of the Golbon and Jairan to import sodium perchlorate from China. A spokesperson said the State Department does not comment on intelligence matters but "remains focused on preventing the proliferation of items, equipment, and technology that could benefit Iran's missile or other weapons programs and continues to hold Iran accountable through sanctions." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to the news reports in a Jan. 23 press briefing, asserting that China abides by its own export controls and international obligations and rejects other countries' imposition of what Beijing considers illegal unilateral sanctions. In the past month, Chinese state media have made no reference to the Jairan, while China's social media platforms also have had no observable discussion about the Iranian ship, according to a review by VOA's Mandarin Service. In its Jan. 22 report, The Financial Times cited "security officials in two Western countries" as saying the Jairan would depart China in early February, but it did not leave until March 10. Gregory Brew, a senior Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk consultancy, said Iran may also have wanted to see if the Golbon could complete its voyage from China without being interdicted before sending the Jairan to follow it. "Ships carrying highly sensitive materials related to Iran's missile industry, which is under U.S. sanctions, are at risk of interception, and the Iranians likely are conscious of that," Brew said. Eight Republican U.S. senators led by Jim Risch and Pete Ricketts sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the purported Iran-China chemical scheme dated Feb. 4, urging him to work with global partners of the U.S. "to intercept and stop the shipments currently underway" if the press reports proved accurate. There was no sign of the Golbon being intercepted on its recent China to Iran voyage. Responding to VOA's query about the letter, a U.S. State Department press officer said: "We do not comment on Congressional correspondence." Ricketts' office also did not respond to a VOA inquiry about whether Rubio has responded to the senators' letter. VOA's Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
Voice of America
14-03-2025
- Voice of America
Publisher Zamora reimprisoned in Guatemala in move lawyer calls ‘inhumane'
A Guatemalan judge ordered prominent journalist Jose Ruben Zamora back to prison this week in a move that the leader of his legal team called 'inhumane.' Zamora on Monday returned to Mariscal Zavala prison in Guatemala City on the orders of Judge Erick Garcia, whose decision came after another court revoked house arrest from the elPeriodico founder. The publisher is awaiting another trial in a money-laundering case that press freedom groups say is politically motivated. 'We're very troubled by what's happening in Jose Ruben Zamora's case, because what we're seeing here is a total breakdown of rule of law in Guatemala,' Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who is leading Zamora's international legal team, told VOA. 'He obviously shouldn't have spent a single day in prison. This latest revocation of his house arrest terms is legally problematic, grossly unfair and inhumane,' Gallagher added. Zamora, 67, attended the hearing on Monday. Near the end of his appearance, he called the ruling 'arbitrary.' During the hearing, the judge said he and his staff had been threatened by unnamed individuals, but he did not elaborate. 'They left him cornered with no way out,' Zamora said in court. Zamora founded elPeriodico in 1996. The newspaper was known for its investigations into corruption across multiple governments in Guatemala. But in 2022, authorities arrested Zamora and later froze the newspaper's assets. The publication was forced to shutter in 2023. A court later sentenced Zamora to six years in prison on money-laundering charges. An appeals court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial for 2025. Zamora's legal team has rejected all the accusations. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has also determined that Zamora's detention is arbitrary and called for his release. The publisher spent more than 800 days in prison before a court in October granted him house arrest while he awaited his new trial. Another court in November revoked Zamora's house arrest, but his lawyers were able to postpone the order for a few months. Artur Romeu, director of the Latin America bureau of Reporters Without Borders, called the decision to reimprison Zamora a 'blatant case of judicial weaponization.' Guatemala's Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA's email requesting comment. During Zamora's previous time in prison, the publisher was subjected to conditions that Gallagher characterized as 'inhumane and degrading' and 'a violation of international standards.' Zamora's health was better while under house arrest, Gallagher said, but now his legal team is concerned about the environment he returned to. 'Being returned to those conditions is horrifying and unacceptable,' Gallagher said. Nine press freedom and rights groups this week called for Zamora's immediate release. 'We urge Guatemalan authorities to guarantee his right to a fair and impartial trial, free from undue interference and pressure,' they said in a joint statement. Zamora's case underscores a global trend in which politically motivated legal proceedings and trials against journalists are drawn out over a long time, according to Gallagher. Gallagher's other clients include jailed pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong; Nobel laureate Maria Ressa from the Philippines; and the family of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in Malta in 2017. 'What we're seeing in Jose Ruben Zamora's case in Guatemala, or Jimmy Lai's case in Hong Kong, are these very prolonged proceedings which actually keep the person in prison and try to hold the international response at bay for as long as possible,' Gallagher said. 'That's a real problem.'
Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Voice of America
VOA Asia Weekly: Across Pacific, New-Found Freedoms Face Legal, Economic Obstacles
Show more Show less The significant legal and economic obstacles standing in the way of press freedom for journalists in the Pacific Islands. Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story is just ahead, but first, making headlines: Families of drug war victims in the Philippines attended a burial ceremony after the International Criminal Court arrested former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte in Manila on charges related to his deadly anti-drug crackdown that killed thousands. They say his arrest helps them heal. 'The justice that we want for those who have died is slowly moving forward.' Duterte says he was "responsible" and pledged to protect police and the military, as he arrived in the Netherlands to face the International Criminal Court case. He made the statement in a video posted on a close advisor's social media account Wednesday. Police arrested protesters outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on Monday during the 66th Tibetan National Uprising Day. Activists waved banners and Tibetan flags before being detained. The 1959 uprising led to the Dalai Lama's exile in India. China says it will take all necessary measures to protect its rights and interests after U.S. President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs on all metal and aluminum imports into the U.S. took effect. Trump emphasized that the tariffs must be reciprocal. North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea after South Korea began joint military drills with the U.S., the first major combined training of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term. A South Korean military official said this marks North Korea's fifth missile launch of the year. Across Pacific Island nations, journalists are pushing back on draconian laws and defamation cases and weighing the cost of Chinese economic help against true editorial freedom. VOA's Jessica Stone has the story. Celebration in December 2022. After more than a decade under a restrictive media law, a vote for change in the Pacific island of Fiji. Newly elected Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka: "I'd like to thank the people of Fiji and congratulate them.' The Rabuka government repealed a law that allowed the fining and jailing of journalists for up to two years for publishing stories considered against the national interest. 'The prime minister and the ministers, more or less, do not have any issues with answering questions.' Regional journalists rated Fiji's press freedoms in the top five of 14 nations surveyed for the first-ever Pacific Islands Media Freedom Index. 'This is just the first step for a better media for our Pacific people.' The island nation of Palau took the top spot in the index. Leilani Reklai is vice president of the Pacific Islands News Association and publisher of the Island Times. 'The journalists are protected specifically under the Constitution. And we also have laws that are in place to support the media.' But those protections are being tested. Reklai is named in a defamation lawsuit brought by a company owned by the father of Palau's president for what the company says are 'false and unsubstantiated allegations" about tax payments. Reklai believes the lawsuit is sending a message beyond the Island Times. 'It serves to have the journalists think twice before they print anything or [before] they express what they feel is the story that's going on.' Defamation lawsuits are also prevalent in the Pacific island of Tonga. Melino Maka, a commentator at the Tonga Independent, knows of many journalists entangled in them. Maka says these lawsuits exploit another vulnerability of the media here: a lack of funding. He says outlets sometimes resort to asking the Tongan or even the Chinese government for financial help, risking their editorial independence. 'Chinese pressure is always there behind the scenes.' Singh says the challenge now is ending the media's tendency to self-censor after almost 20 years of little to no accountability reporting in Fiji. Jessica Stone, VOA News. Visit for the most up-to-date stories. I'm Chris Casquejo. And finally, a modern take on traditional Korean pottery. The Denver Art Museum partnered with the National Museum of Korea to showcase the iconic 17th-century Korean moon jar. Some artists present traditional ceramics with a 21st-century twist, drawing inspiration from the jars' mysterious forms and imperfections. Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly.
