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Iran
Arrests of
journalists and press freedom violations continue
unabated
Two more journalists arrested, a managing
editor banned from doing his job, and two newspapers
suspended. Iranian courts persist in serious press
freedom violations.
Managing editor Massiolah Soltani, of
the weekly Sedai é Zanjan, was summonsed on 13 May 2004
by the third chamber of the Zanjan court in the
north-west of the country and after questioning he was
immediately remanded in custody. He is accused of
"disseminating false news" and "disturbing public
opinions and order". His colleague, Massud Almassi, was
arrested for the same reasons on 15 May. The newspaper
decided to suspend publication in protest against the
arrests which it termed "illegaI and arbitrary". The
arrests appeared to be linked to a story carried by the
newspaper about the rape of a four-year-old girl.
Editor of the monthly Aftab (The Sun),
Issa Saharkhiz, was given a six-month ban on all
journalistic work and fined two million rials (about
2,000 euros). The Tehran court gave its verdict almost
three months after the trial, that took place on 25
February. One year earlier, in its 28th edition, Aftab
carried a translation of an article "The Lessons of
Iran" written by Israeli Bary Robin on the 1979 Iranian
revolution. The author considered that "the Ayatollah
Khomeini's criticism of the Shah's relations with the
West was unjust." Iranian courts ruled that the article
was "an insult to the guide of the revolution"
Elsewhere, on 5 May, the Azeri-language
daily Nedai Azarabadegan was suspended for two months by
the Tabriz court and ordered to pay a three million-rials
fine (about 3,000 euros). Its editor Abolfazle Vésali,
said that several bodies had made complaints against the
newspaper but that he believed "it had only done its job
in providing news".
The following day, the weekly Gorgan é
Emrouz was banned. Its editor Mostafa Sabti, has been
imprisoned since 19 March on the orders of the first
branch of Gorgan Court in northern Iran. Sentenced on 1
September 2003 to three months in prison and four months
suspended, Sabti had been on temporary release since
then. He had published an open letter from residents of
a neighbourhood in Gorgan protesting at the taking over
of a park by the local authorities. The courts,
implicated in the case, laid a complaint for defamation.
With 14 currently behind
bars, Iran is the Middle East's largest prison for
journalists.
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists
and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the
right to inform the public and to be informed, in
accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Reporters Without borders has nine
national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United
Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos
Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and
Washington and more than a hundred correspondents
worldwide.
©
Reporters Without Borders 2002
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