His Excellency Dr. Adel Al Toraifi
The Minister of Culture and Information of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
Subject: Request for establishing the fate of missing Iranian journalists in Mina
Assalamu Alaikum,
Journalism, owing to its principal responsibility of spreading knowledge and raising awareness amongst the society, enjoys a high status. Striving to communicate accurate and credible information, practitioners of this profession are exposed to constant, persistent threats while fulfilling their mission.
The bitter, unfortunate incident that occurred on the Tenth of Dhu a-Hijjah in Mina this year took away the lives of hundreds of pilgrims of the Baitullah al-Haram. Two of our colleagues, Seyyed Hamid-Reza Hosseini and Seyyed Hamid Mirzadeh have been among those who have gone missing. One week after the incident, their fate is still not established, and their families and colleagues are in deep agony.
Your familiarity with Iranian and international affairs, your position as a member of the large family of journalists, and hence your awareness of Iranians’ sentiments at this moment, brings enormous advantage to this case.
We, a group of journalists and media activists deeply concerned over the fate of two of our friends and colleagues, have decided to appeal to you as a figure who has held prominent positions, inter alia, at Asharq Al-Awsat, Al Watan, and Al Riyadh as editor-in-chief.
Your Excellency,
Besides their professional mission to cover this year’s Hajj procession, our colleagues Seyyed Hamid-Reza Hosseini and Seyyed Hamid Mirzadeh, were pilgrims of the Divine Sanctuary and guests of the Saudi government. Thus, we expect your office to devote meticulous attention to their fate.
As your Iranian colleagues, we expect your special order for consideration of this case in order to release families and friends of Seyyed Hamid-Reza Hosseini and Seyyed Hamid Mirzade from uncertainty and agony.
With best regards,
A number of Iranian journalists
September 30, 2015
Tehran, Iran
