Iran
remains in a dramatic and paradoxical press freedom situation. It is the
biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East, with harsh censorship
but also a prolific and vigorous written press that is clearly helping
the growth of civil society. This press mirrors the split between the
regime's reformists and hardliners, who are part of a unique regime
headed by the hardline Supreme Guide of the Republic, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, and a reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, who does not have
much power.
The hardline press, inspired by Islamic revolution and backing Khamenei,
coexists with the reformist newspapers, which emerged in 1997 after
President Khatami was elected. There is no opposition media in the
traditional sense but genuine debate goes on between the two sides.
All written material is closely monitored, especially by the Supreme
National Security Council (chaired by Khatami but controlled by the
hardliners) which each week sends all newspapers a list of banned
subjects, such as (in 2003) the 1999 student demonstrations, resumption
of talks with the United States, the murder of photojournalist Zahra
Kazemi and anything about nuclear weapons agreements. But reporting what
Iranian politicians say about these topics is sometimes possible.
However, any discussion of them is strictly forbidden. Many papers,
including hardline ones, have been suspended by the Council.
The bane of the reformist press is Judge Said Mortazavi, who is under
the orders of the all-powerful head of the judiciary, Abbas Ali Alizadeh,
who has been assigned by the Supreme Guide to get stamp out press
freedom. Mortazavi was named chief prosecutor of Teheran on 20 May 2003
after long being head of court no.1410, known as "the press court" and
notorious for its suspension of dozens of newspapers since April 2000.
In 2003, he suspended many papers and also imprisoned journalists, who
were often tried in secret and held for months in solitary confinement,
as the head of a visiting UN working party, Louis Joinet, and the UN
Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, both noted.
Journalists called for Mortazavi's dismissal on 8 August.
In February, supreme court judge Ayatollah Mohammad Sadegh al-Essehagh
ruled that the law used since 2000 to shut down nearly 100 newspapers
was illegal. As well as being harassed by the judiciary, the press was
targeted by the intelligence ministry, which summoned more than 30
journalists for questioning during the year. Some journalists were very
often only freed from jail conditionally, were subject to heavy pressure
and threatened with reimprisonment to complete the rest of their
sentence.
Tension increased with the death on 10 July of Canadian-Iranian
photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who had been jailed in Teheran's Evin
prison after being arrested for taking pictures of prisoners' families
outside the notorious jail. The case, which the authorities first tried
to cover up, showed the world how the justice system operates in Iran
and revealed the conditions of detention of political prisoners.
The investigation, entrusted to the criminal branch of Mortazavi's
office, also showed the fierce hostility between the reformists and
hardliners. An intelligence ministry agent was accused of murdering her
by the justice ministry in a bid to absolve Mortazavi, who was strongly
suspected of involvement in the killing. Impunity seems likely to win
the day once again, as in the case of a number of journalists and
intellectuals murdered in 1998.
A journalist killed
Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was
arrested on 23 June 2003 as she was taking pictures of prisoners'
families outside the Evin prison north of Teheran. She was beaten in
detention, fell into a coma and on 27 June was taken to the city's
Baghiatollah Hospital, where she died, officially on 10 July. After
trying to cover up the cause of death, the authorities, in the person of
Vice-President Ali Abtahi, admitted on 16 July that she had been
"beaten."
Her body was hastily buried on 22 July in the southern town of Shiraz,
despite her mother, who lives in Iran, asking for the body to be sent to
Canada. She admitted on 30 July being pressured to allow burial in Iran.
Canada has insisted the body be handed over to Kazemi's Canadian son
Stephan, as he has requested.
Some members of parliament accused judiciary of being responsible for
Kazemi's death. The culture and Islamic guidance ministry's foreign
press chief, Mohammad Hussein Khoshvaght, admitted in a letter in the
media on 24 July that Teheran prosecutor Said Mortazavi had forced him
to say she had died of a brain haemorrhage. Mortazavi reportedly accused
him of issuing a press visa to Kazemi, who he said was a spy.
Reformist MP Mohsen Armin said Mortazavi "ordered a story to be told
that she had died of a brain haemorrhage and asked her family to bury
her quickly." He said she had told police who interrogated her that she
had been hit on the head. Vice-President Abtahi spoke on 30 July of a
"murder." The judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Elham, admitted on 11
August she had died after being hit on the head but said individuals,
not institutions, were to blame. However, torture does not seem rare in
Iranian prisons.
The criminal branch of Mortazavi's office, headed by investigating judge
Javad Esmaeli, presented its report on 22 September, clearing all state
institutions of blame for Kazemi's death and accusing an unnamed
intelligence ministry agent who had interrogated her. The agent was
charged with "semi-intentional" murder, implying that he hit Kazemi
without intending to kill her.
The intelligence ministry, controlled by the reformists, vehemently
denied one of its people was involved and threatened to reveal evidence
implicating Mortazavi's office. The power struggled between reformists
and hardliners is blocking efforts to get at the truth and makes more
necessary than ever an independent and impartial enquiry including
international experts, as Canada has demanded. In October, lawyer Shirin
Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, agreed to represent Kazemi's
mother.
New information about journalists killed before 2003
The murder
in late 1998 of a group of intellectuals and regime opponents - among
them Daryush and Parvaneh Foroohar,
symbolic figures of the liberal opposition, Majid Sharif,
a columnist with the monthly Iran-e Farda, and
writers and journalists Mohammad Mokhtari and
Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh - deeply shocked Iranians
and outraged much of the reformist media. The authorities reacted by
opening an investigation and in January 1999 the intelligence ministry
officially admitted some its agents had been involved and announced the
arrest of dozens of suspects.
Pirooz Davani, editor of the newspaper
Pirooz who disappeared in late August 1998 and whose
body was never found, was also among the victims. In January 2001, three
intelligence ministry agents were sentenced to death and 12 others to
prison terms for murdering the Foroohar couple. Three other people were
acquitted. The supreme court confirmed the sentences in late January
2003. The victims' families complained that those who ordered the
killings were still free and, after a rally of 5,000 people in late
November to mark the killings, they formally asked the UN Human Rights
Commission to investigate.
Three journalists physically attacked
Hassan Raghifar, of the regional weekly
Asan, was kidnapped by four strangers on 16 August
2003, interrogated about his work, tortured for two hours and then
freed. The paper had printed articles about the arrest of journalists.
Several journalists, including Negareh Babakhani of
the daily Hambastegi, were beaten by police and
civilian activists during student demonstrations in June.
Freelance journalist Peyman Pakmehr, was attacked
and kidnapped on 2 July by four Islamist militiamen after he had sent a
story to a foreign-based Iranian radio station. He returned home two
days later.
43 journalists imprisoned
Akbar Ganji, of the daily Sobh-e
Emrooz, was arrested on 22 April 2000 after appearing before the
press court. He was accused of revealing details of the murder of
intellectuals and regime opponents in late 1998 and of writing articles
supporting dissident cleric Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, under house
arrest since 1989.
He was also accused of taking part in a Berlin conference, held in April
2000 to discuss reforms in Iran, that was considered anti-Islamic by the
authorities. At one hearing, he said he had been tortured in prison. He
was sentenced to 10 years in jail on 13 January 2001. In May that year
it was reduced on appeal to six months, but on 15 July, the supreme
court cancelled the reduction because of supposed technical errors and
imposed a six-year jail sentence. Until 2003, Ganji was allowed out of
prison several times for a few days after posting high sums as bail. In
July 2003, his family voiced concern about his health and said he had
been refused medical care. He was hospitalised in Teheran in late
November and released on medical grounds on 23 December.
Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari, a
theologian and contributor to the monthly Iran-e Farda,
was arrested on 5 August 2000 and sent to Teheran's Evin prison after
his home had been searched. He had gone to Europe in April to attend the
Berlin conference and get treatment for his diabetes.
At his trial, held in secret before the special religious court from 7
to 15 October that year, he was accused of undermining national
security, defaming the authorities, undermining the reputation of the
clergy and of being a "mohareb" ("fighter against God"). On 12 October
2002, he was called before the court and told he had been sentenced to
seven years in prison - four years for saying that wearing the veil and
other Islamic dress codes for women had cultural and historic roots in
Iran and were not a necessity for Islam, one year for attending the
Berlin conference and two years for "spreading false news."
Behrooz Gheranpayeh, head of the National Institute
of Public Opinion and a journalist with the now-closed daily paper
Nowrooz, was arrested on 16 October 2002 and sent to
Evin prison, accused of spying and collaborating with the Mujahideen
exiled armed opposition. He was freed on 16 January 2003 on bail of 1.3
billion rials (130,000 euros).
Hossein Ghazian, a director of the Ayandeh public
opinion institute and a journalist with Nowrooz, was
arrested on 31 October 2002 and sent to Evin prison.
Abbas Abdi, another Ayandeh director, ex-editor of
the daily Salam and former staff member of many
reformist newspapers, was arrested at his home on 4 November 2002. Press
court Judge Said Mortazavi accused Ayandeh of receiving money from the
US polling firm Gallup "or from a foreign embassy."
Gheranpayeh, Gazian and Abdi were each sentenced at a secret trial on 6
January 2003 to four years in prison for "passing information to enemy
countries," and six months for "making propaganda against the Islamic
regime." Associates said they feared their supposed confessions meant
they had been submitted to very strong psychological pressure. The
sentences were confirmed on appeal in mid-April.
Alireza Eshraghi, Hamid Ghazvini and
Rahman Ahmadi, of the daily Hayat-e Now, were
arrested on 12 January 2003 after the paper four days earlier printed a
1937 US newspaper cartoon about the pressure exerted by then-President
Franklin Roosevelt on the US Supreme Court, represented by a bearded,
black-robed old man resembling the Islamic regime's founder, the late
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It was printed alongside an interview with
a social science professor about "social collapse" in Iran. The paper
was closed the day before they were arrested. Ghazvini was freed after a
few hours, Rahman on 13 January and Eshraghi on 9 March.
Mohsen Sazgara, one of the founders of the reformist
press and editor of the Internet website www.alliran.net
was arrested at his home on 18 February by plainclothes police, his home
and office searched and many documents seized. The previous week, he had
posted on the website a call for constitutional reform and said the
Iranian people had been taken hostage by the Council of Guardians, which
is controlled by the hardliners, its members named by the Supreme Guide,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and which oversees elections and checks all
legislation to ensure it complies with Islamic law.
He wrote that the past five years had shown the religious regime could
not be reformed or be efficient and he called Khamenei a dictator. He
was freed on 22 February and on 3 June banned from leaving the country.
On 2 June he was summoned to the intelligence ministry, where he was
told a recent law approved by the Supreme National Security Council had
banned some people from speaking to foreign-based Persian-language
media. The exit ban may have been punishment for his talking on foreign
radio stations.
He was arrested again on 15 June during student demonstrations. His
family posted bail of six billion rials (600,000 euros at the official
rate) but he was not released. He has staged two hunger-strikes in
prison, of 56 and 23 days, despite serious heart problems. He was
charged by the Teheran revolutionary court with undermining national
security and "insulting the Supreme Guide" and sentenced to a year in
prison on 27 September at a secret trial. He was freed on 6 October.
Kambiz Kaveh, of the film magazines
Sinema-ye Jahan, Majaleh-ye Film,
Donia-ye Tasvir and Sinema-e Now,
and Said Mostaghasi, of the weekly
Haftehnameh-ye Sinema, were arrested at their homes on 26 February,
taken away and the houses searched. They were freed on 10 April.
Mohammad Abdi, editor of the monthly
Honar-e Haftom, and Amir Ezati, of the monthly
Mahnameh-ye Film, were arrested on 28 February. Abdi
was freed on 14 April and Amir Ezati, accused of translating and
distributing in Iran Salman Rushdie's book "Satanic Verses," on 30 June.
Ezati had spent 60 days in solitary confinement.
Film music critic Yasamin Soufi was arrested on 1
March and taken to an unknown place when she answered a summons by the
Teheran police's Adareh Amaken section, which deals with "moral"
offences and is close to the intelligence ministry. She was freed on 4
March, arrested again on 17 March and freed on 20 March.
Ali-Reza Jabari, a translator and freelance
contributor to several independent newspapers, including
Adineh, was arrested on 17 March and sentenced on 19 April to four
years in prison, 253 lashes and a fine of six million rials (600 euros)
for "consuming and distributing alcoholic drinks" and for "adultery and
incitement to immoral acts." Such charges are routine against
non-religious people. On 17 June, the sentence was reduced on appeal to
three years. In fact, he was being punished for belonging to the
Writers' Association and sending material to foreign-based news
websites, especially articles defending a jailed lawyer, Nasser
Zarafshan.
Behzad Khorshidi, editor of the monthly
Piramoon, was arrested on 29 March and taken to a
secret place after being summoned by Adareh Amaken and accused of
criticising the regime's cultural policies and having links with
journalist Siamak Pourzand. He was released on 13 May. He had earlier
been arrested on 17 March in the same circumstances and freed a few days
later.
Siamak Pourzand, often heard on US-based opposition
radio stations, was arrested on 30 March and taken to Evin prison. He
had been conditionally freed from jail in early December 2002, a device
sometimes used by the judiciary in response to international pressure. A
journalist thus freed has no official document certifying release and
can be rearrested and jailed at any time.
Pourzand, also head of a Teheran cultural centre, had been arrested on
24 November 2001 and sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2002 for
"undermining state security" and "having links with monarchists and
counter-revolutionaries." The court said it had taken into account his
confession of guilt. He had admitted all the charges and said he did not
have to defend himself. His family said they were worried that
psychological pressure while in prison had forced him to confess. The
Teheran appeal court upheld the sentence in May 2002.
Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, of the daily
Hamshahri, appeared in court on 13 April and was sent to Evin
prison. He had been sentenced on appeal on 10 March to eight months in
jail for "anti-regime propaganda" and five for "publishing false news."
He was also banned for five years from "public and social activity,"
including journalism. He was freed on 6 October.
Sina Motallebi, of the reformist daily
Hayat-e Now and editor of the website
www.rooznegar.com, was arrested on 20 April after being summoned the
previous day by Adareh Amaken, the latest of a series of summonses.
After the paper was closed in January, he had revived the website and
used it to defend one of the paper's journalists, Alireza Eshraghi, who
had been arrested on 11 January. The website had angered some legal
officials and also reformists, who he criticised for their silence about
the arrests of journalists. He was accused of "undermining national
security by cultural activity." He was freed on 12 May.
Taghi Rahmani, of the weekly Omid-e
Zangan, Hoda Saber, of
Iran-e farda, and Reza Alijani,
Iran-e farda's editor and winner of the
Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France Prize in 2001, who
had been given heavy jail sentences in May but not arrested, were
detained on 14 June and accused of having secret meetings with students
who had staged anti-regime demonstrations that month. They were arrested
on the orders of Judge Mortazavi.
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said on 15 October that three
journalists "were serving a prison sentence" but did not say why, or
where and when they were tried. They were reportedly tried in secret on
15 September and kept in solitary confinement until 30 October. In May,
the Teheran revolutionary court had sentenced Rahmani to 11 years in
jail, Alijani to six and Saber to 10. All three were stripped of
political rights for 10 years.
Amin Bozorgian, editor of the daily
Golestan-e Iran, was arrested on 15 June and accused of inciting
students to revolt. He was freed a month later.
Ali Akrami, of the suspended reformist daily
Nedat Eslahat, was arrested on 16 June and released
on 9 July.
Ensafali Hedayat, of the daily Salam,
was reporting on a demonstration at Tabriz University (northern Iran) on
16 June when he arrested by strangers who accused him of inciting
students to revolt. He was freed on 14 July after three weeks in
solitary confinement.
Freelance journalist Amir Teirani and
Mohamed Reza Bouzeri, of the daily
Golestan-e Iran, were arrested on 16 and 18 June respectively for
allegedly inciting students to demonstrate. Bouzeri was freed on 20
July. Teirani, who was kept in solitary confinement and under strong
psychological pressure to force him to confess to having secret
documents, was released on 15 September.
Iraj Jamshidi, editor of the financial daily
Asia, and his wife Saghi Baghernia,
the paper's managing editor, were arrested on 6 July for "anti-regime
propaganda." The day before, the paper had printed a picture of Maryam
Rajavi (wife of Massud Rajavi, the well-known leader of the People's
Mujahideen group), who was arrested in France on 17 June. Baghernia was
freed on 7 July and the paper suspended.
Esmail Jamshidi, of the monthly
Gardon and brother of Iraj Jamshidi, was arrested without
explanation on 7 July. He was freed on 31 August.
Hossein Bastani, Vahid Pourostad
and Said Razavi Faghi, of the reformist daily
Yas-e no, and Shahram Mohamadi-Nia,
editor of the weekly Vaght, were summoned on 11 and
12 July by Teheran prosecutor Said Mortazavi and imprisoned.
Yas-e no had reported on 10 July that the
intelligence ministry had ordered it not to run a series of articles
about demonstrations on 9 July. Bastani and Pourostad were released on
20 July and Faghi was freed on bail on 25 September after spending
nearly 80 days in solitary confinement. Mohamadi-Nia, who was accused of
printing an "unsuitable" photo and article, was freed on 16 July.
Iraj Rasteghar, editor of the suspended weekly
Tavana, was arrested on 12 July as part of legal
proceedings against the paper. He was freed on bail on 16 July.
Freelance journalist Arash Salehi was arrested the
same day in the street in Teheran and released a month later.
Hossein Farrokhi, editor of the monthly
Sinema-Teatre, was arrested on 15 July and accused
of printing pictures of women that did not conform to the Islamic
republic's dress code. He was freed on bail on 17 July.
Abolgasem Golbaf, editor of the monthly
Gozaresh, was arrested on 20 July for "anti-regime
propaganda" and "publishing false news." He was released on 9 October on
bail of 400 million rials (40,000 euros).
Arash Noporshian (cartoonist) and
Mohammad-Amin Golbaf and Nader
Karimi (journalists), of the monthly Gozaresh,
were arrested on 26 July after failing to pay money to the judiciary for
unknown reasons. They were freed on 3 August.
Ali Reza Ahmadi, of the financial daily
Asia, was summoned and jailed on 28 July in Evin
prison, where he was put in solitary confinement.
Behzad Zarinpour, editor of Asia,
was summoned by a Teheran court on 7 September and a few hours later
plainclothes agents searched his home. His family had no news of him for
a week until on 13 September officials announced he was in jail. He was
freed on 5 October.
Three journalists imprisoned before 2003 were freed
Emadoldin Baghi, of the daily
Fath, was freed on 6 February 2003. He had been
arrested on 29 May 2000 after a hearing before the press court. On 17
July that year he was sentenced to five years in prison for "undermining
national security" and "spreading false news" in a September 1999
editorial in the daily paper Neshat in which he
advocated a modern approach by Islam to the death penalty. The
Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) and former intelligence minister Ali
Fallahian had filed complaints against him. His sentence was cut to
three years by an appeal court on 23 October 2000. In early June 2003,
he was summoned by a Teheran court and told he could not leave the
country.
Bijan Safsari, editor of the daily
Seda-ye Edalat and owner of the daily
Azad, was freed on 28 May 2003 after being arrested
in late November 2002. Azad had been suspended in
July 2002 and Safsari accused by the press court of continuing to work
as a journalist on Seda-ye Edalat
after Azad was suspended. He was stripped of his
civil rights.
Behrooz Gheranpayeh, head of the National Institute
of Public Opinion and a journalist with the now-closed daily paper
Nowrooz, was freed on 16 January 2003 on bail of 1.3
billion rials (130,000 euros). He had been arrested on 16 October 2002
and sent to Evin prison, accused of spying and collaborating with the
Mujahideen exiled armed opposition.
A cyber-dissident imprisoned
Javad Tavaf, a student leader and the editor of the
popular news website Rangin Kaman, which for a year
had been criticising the Guide of the Islamic Revolution, was arrested
at his home on 16 January 2003 by people who said they were from the
military judiciary, which later denied it had arrested him. He was freed
two days later.
Three journalists arrested
Issa Saharkhiz, editor of the monthly
Aftab, was arrested on 15 July 2003 and freed on
bail two days later. He was rearrested on 27 July and then freed the
next day after being questioned about corruption. He was summoned again
on 26 August by the Teheran prosecutor's office and questioned about
statements supposedly made by Iraj Jamshidi, editor of
Asia, who had been arrested in early July. The hardline paper
Resalat accused Saharkhiz of corruption on 25
August.
Mohsen Mandegari, political editor of the hardline
daily Entekhab, was summoned by the Teheran
revolutionary court on 7 October and imprisoned until the next day.
Editor Mohammad Mehdi Faghihi was summoned at the
same time but only held for a few hours. They were arrested after
publishing an article about the importance to the regime of signing an
agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Harassment and obstruction
The
reformist daily Bahar was suspended on 11 January
2003 by the Teheran press court a few days after reporting shady stock
exchange dealings by the firm Al-Zahra, three of whose shareholders are
prominent politicians - former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, former
judiciary chief Ayatollah Yazdi and Ahmad Janati, head of the council of
the Revolutionary Guards. The paper had been suspended on 8 August 2000
and did not reappear until December 2002.
Hamid Ghazvini, Hossin Moslem
and Ahmad Shams, of the daily
Hayat-e Now, were summoned for the third time by the religious court
on 16 January and interrogated, as earlier, for nearly seven hours. Two
other staff members, Mohsen Mosahafi and
Sayah Rezai, were also summoned and lengthily
interrogated.
Akram Didari, of the daily Hamshahri,
was summoned on 19 January by the religious court and questioned about
his writings.
The daily Hamshahri was suspended on 23 January for
10 days for refusing to print a right-of-response article by Ali-Reza
Mahjoub, secretary-general of the government controlled Workers' Club
trade union. The paper is a favourite target and distribution had
already been banned outside the capital on the pretext that it was a
Teheran paper. It reappeared five days later.
Film press journalists Sepideh Abroaviz,
Narges Vishkai, Assal Samari,
Yasamin Soufi and Mehrnaz Teherani
were interrogated at the end of February by Adareh Amaken and accused of
"criticising the regime's cultural policy" and "having contacts with"
journalist Siamak Pourzand. The head of Teheran's security forces also
said he found "immoral CDs" in their homes.
Narges Mohammadi, of the weekly
Peyam-e Hajar, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence on 9
March for giving interviews to the media while her husband, Taghi
Rahmani, of the weekly Omid-e-Zangan, was in prison.
She had been summoned on 4 November 2002 by the revolutionary court for
"disturbing the peace. She is reportedly under new legal investigation.
Shaghaiegh Abolfazeli, of the monthly
Sinema-ye Jahan, was arrested on 7 April for unknown
reasons and freed a few hours later. She said she had been roughed up
and insulted.
Masomeh Alinejad, of the daily
Hambastegi, Mohammad Naimpour, editor of the
daily Yas-e no, Reza Monsaref,
editor of the fortnightly Ava-ye Maku, the editor of
the daily Tosseh, editor Mohammed
Mirdamadi of the daily Nowrouz, and
Mohsen Sazgara, editor of the news website
Alliran, were summoned by the press court in
mid-April.
Eleven journalists, including many from the film press, were summoned in
May by Adareh Amaken and accused of possessing and selling "immoral"
videos. They were Golamreza Moussavi, editor of the
monthly Sinema-ye Jahan, Ali Moalem,
editor of the monthly Donya-ye Tasvir,
Feridon Jerani, editor of the weekly
Sinema, Payam Fazlinejad, of the monthly
Gozaresh-e Film, Mohammad Hadi
Karimi, editor de Sinema,
Alireza Bazel, journalist and translator with the daily
Hayat-e Now, Houshang Golmakani,
of the monthly Film, Nushabeh Amiri
(editor) and Houshang Asadi
(journalist) of Gozaresh-e Film, film critic
Khosrow Dehghan, president of the Writers'
Association, and Ibrahim Nabavi, a contributor to
several reformist papers.
The Supreme National Security Council, headed by President Mohammad
Khatami, banned the press at the end of May from publishing a letter
sent by more than 100 reformist MPs to the Supreme Guide demanding
reforms and warning that the regime would be in danger if he continued
to block them. They said most Iranians were unhappy or disappointed,
most educated people remained silent or left the country, as had most of
its financial reserves, and that the country was entirely surrounded by
foreign forces.
No Iranian newspaper printed the letter, which was made public on 24
May, and it could only be read for a few hours on the reformist website
Rouydad and the site of the student news agency
ISNA before it was taken down. It can now only be
read on foreign-based Persian-language sites.
The daily Kayhan, the main Islamist organ, did not
appear on newsstands on 10 June, a few days after new Teheran prosecutor
Said Mortazavi ordered it suspended for a day for calling members of the
reformist-majority parliament "swine." The Kayhan group, which puts out
dozens of hardline publications, is controlled by the Supreme Guide and
is close to the secret police.
The Supreme National Security Council banned the press on 12 June from
the Teheran University campus, where new demonstrations were taking
place. Several journalists from the ILNA and
ISNA news agencies, including ISNA director
Abolfazl Fateh, were beaten, and some had their
cameras seized and were detained for a few hours. The cameras were not
returned. The press had been able to report on the protests fairly
easily until then.
Dozens of satellite receiver dishes were seized in Teheran in early
July, especially in neighbourhoods where there had been unrest. During
the 10-20 June demonstrations, US-based Persian-language satellite TV
stations (most controlled by monarchists) had urged people to take to
the streets. The regime wanted to block new protests on 9 July, the
anniversary of the brutally-crushed student protests in 1999. Selling
and possessing dishes is officially forbidden but the authorities say
there are several :million in the country. The regime jams
Persian-language and other foreign-based TV stations.
Between mid-July and mid-August, Reporters
Without Borders recorded more than 50 cases of journalists being
summoned by legal officials.
Javad
Alizadeh, cartoonist on the
monthly Tanz, was summoned on 13
July by the Teheran prosecutor's office.
Mortaza Lotfi, of the daily Kar va
Karegar, was summoned by a Teheran court on 27 July to answer 17
formal complaints.
Mostafa Karazi, managing editor of the daily
Sada-ye Edalat, was summoned on 28 July and charged
on the basis of a complaint by the Teheran prosecutor.
Mahnaz Hovida, editor of the regional weekly
Raizan Javan, was summoned on 30 July by Teheran
prosecutor Said Mortazavi.
Ahmad Nabavi, managing editor of the weekly
Nada-ye Eslahat, was banned from working as a
journalist for three years by a court in Arak on 3 August and fined 7
million rials (700 euros). Editor Ma'soud Moradi Bastani
was given a suspended six-month jail sentence, a five-year ban on
working as a journalist, a fine of a million rials (100 euros) and six
lashes. One of the paper's journalists, Moharam Berati,
was similarly banned for three years and fined 80,000 rials (eight
euros). All three were accused of libel and "publishing lies."
The weekly Nahmeh-ye Ghazvin was banned on 9 August
for "encouraging depravation and publication of lies." Its first issue
had also been banned and editor Ali Shahrouzi accused of "damaging the
reputation of political and religious figures and undermining official
organisations."
The same day, four people were each given a year's suspended prison
sentence for publishing two books about women. They were
Banafsheh Samghis, who reported the books in the press, their
publisher and the two women authors.
Abdollah Nasseri, head of the national news agency
IRNA, was summoned by a Teheran court on 12 August
for publishing a speech by Teheran MP Mohsen Armin about the murder of
photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi.
Ali Reza Alavitabar, who helps run the website
Emrouz, was summoned by a Teheran court on 13
August.
Mostafa Kovakabian, managing editor of the reformist
daily Mardomsalari, was summoned and charged on 17
August on three counts concerning articles about the Kazemi murder and
about Hossein Khomeini, grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini..
Gholi Shikhi, managing editor of the reformist daily
Tosseh, was summoned four times by a Teheran court
on 18 August for four different matters.
The same day, Mostafa Nassehi, editor of the
suspended weekly Tabarestan, was summoned and
convicted by a Teheran court for "anti-regime propaganda, insulting
regime officials and publishing false news" after the paper reported on
flaws in the legal system and on torture in prison.
Amir Reza Nourizadeh, who writes for the newspapers
Mosigi Magam and Sinema-ye Jahan, was ordered
from 22 August to report daily to the police. The same day,
Mohammad Javad Roh, of Yas-e no,
was summoned and then freed on bail.
Mohammad Naimpour, managing editor of the daily
Yas-e no, was summoned by the Teheran prosecutor's
office on 27 August to answer 25 complaints filed by the Revolutionary
Guards, the prison administration and the Teheran prosecutor for
libelling the authorities, undermining national security and publishing
anti-regime propaganda. He was freed on bail of 700 million rials
(70,000 euros).
Mohammad Javad Roh, of the daily
Yas-e no, was summoned and interrogated by the Teheran revolutionary
court on 28 August for "insulting the regime" and "publishing false
news." He was freed the same day on bail of 100 million rials (10,000
euros) pending trial.
Several journalists, including Amir Reza Nourizadeh,
of the monthlies Musighi-ye Magham and
Sinema-ye Jahan, were summoned by Adareh Amaken at
the end of August.
Mostafa Sabti, editor of the weekly
Gorgan Emrouz, was sentenced by a court in the northern town of
Gorgan on 1 September to 91 days in prison for publishing "lies that
disturb the peace" and libelling the authorities, plus a further four
months suspended for three years. He remained free pending his appeal.
Lotfollah Missami, editor of the monthly
Cheshmeh Andaz-e Iran, was summoned by a Teheran
court on 6 September for publishing "lies that disturb the peace" and
for libel. He was released on bail of one billion rials (100,000 euros).
Eskandar Deldam, of the suspended weekly
Tabarestan, was summoned and detained by the Teheran
prosecutor's office on 21 September after an article poking fun at the
state radio and TV, which is directly controlled by the Supreme Guide.
He was freed the same day.
Keyvan Zargari, cartoonist for the daily
Yas-e no, was summoned on 27 September and freed the
same day on bail.
Fariba Davoudi Mohajer, a contributor to the
reformist press, was given a three-year suspended prison sentence on 28
September by the Teheran revolutionary court for subversion and
anti-regime propaganda for her writings and because she had signed a
petition calling for the release of political prisoners.
The managing editors of the reformist dailies Yas-e no,
Sharq, Hambastegi and
Baharaneh were summoned by a Teheran court between 1
and 7 October on the basis of complaints by prosecutor Said Mortazavi.
The weekly Avay-e Kordestan was banned in
mid-October by a revolutionary court in the Kurdish province of
Sanandaj.
Mohammad Naimpour, managing editor of the daily
Yas-e no, was summoned by a Teheran court on 18
October.
The same day, Elias Hazrti, managing editor of the
daily E'temad, was summoned by a Teheran court for
"undermining national unity."
Gholam Reza Sadeghian, of the daily
Kayhan, was summoned by a Teheran court on 23 October for libel and
"publishing lies." He was freed on bail the same day after
interrogation. He had written an article about trafficking in used
medical supplies that had infected 80 people.
Manuchehr Tavakoli, editor of the monthly
Niki, was convicted by the Teheran revolutionary
court on 29 October of publishing "immoral" articles and photos.
Issa Sahakhiz, editor of the monthly
Aftab, was summoned by a Teheran court on 5 November for an article
allegedly insulting the late Ayatollah Khomeini. It was based on a
translation of an article in an Israeli paper about the 1979 Islamic
revolution.
Majid Ghassemi Fizabadi, managing editor of the
daily Nassim-e Sabah, was convicted by a Teheran
court on 10 November of libel and "publishing lies disturbing the peace"
by printing a report on the Zahra Kazemi murder by parliament's Article
90 Commission.
The weekly Aban was suspended by the press
supervisory commission on 18 November for "irregular publication." The
paper was one of 20 suspended in 2000 in a crackdown on the reformist
press. It was allowed to reappear in 2001. Its most recent issue had
contained two articles about the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, which went to
Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi.