Denmark seeks contact with arrested student in Iran
Released on - Saturday,07 November , 2009 -19:23
The Danish government said Saturday it was trying to make contact with a Danish journalism student arrested three days ago in Tehran.
The Iranian authorities have confirmed 31-year-old Niels Krogsgaard is in custody, but have not said where, a Danish foreign ministry official said.
The Danish journalists' union said on Friday Krogsgaard was freelancing in Iran for a project related to his studies and was arrested on Wednesday while covering an anti-government protest.
"The Iranian authorities confirmed today that the Danish journalism student Niels Krogsgaard is in prison in Tehran," Charlotte Slente, from the Danish foreign ministry, told AFP.
"We have not yet received more precise details of where he is being held, but we are in close contact with the Iranian authorities."
"Once we know where he is, the next step will be to ask the Iranian authorities for permission to visit him, provide him with a lawyer and let him contact his family."
Four other journalists -- two Canadians, one Japanese and one Iranian -- were also arrested in Tehran on Wednesday for reporting "without permission" on a rally to mark the 30th anniversary of the storming of the US embassy, the Iranian news agency Fars said on Friday.
Police arrested 109 people during opposition protests on the sidelines of the official demonstration, Tehran's police chief said on Saturday.