27/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU calls for immediate release of film-makers. Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has called for the “immediate release” of ten documentary film-makers accused of working for the Persian service of the BBC in Iran. In a press release of 26 September, Ashton says she is “equally concerned at reports of harassment of several other people alleged to have links with the BBC Persian service”. “This disturbing trend of arresting journalists, film-makers and artists in Iran on political grounds suggests that the Iranian authorities are determined to crack down on independent thought”, she stresses, calling on the authorities to respect freedom of expression and “stop the systematic prosecution and intimidation of journalists and artists”. (CG/transl.jl)