(RSF/IFEX) – Two journalists are currently threatened with the death penalty in Iran. Khalil Rostamkhani and Hassan Youssefi Echkevari are notably accused of having organised and participated in a conference held in Berlin from 7 to 8 April 2000 which focused on the theme “Iran after the elections”. The conference was labelled “anti-Islamic” and “anti-revolutionary” […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Two journalists are currently threatened with the death penalty in Iran. Khalil Rostamkhani and Hassan Youssefi Echkevari are notably accused of having organised and participated in a conference held in Berlin from 7 to 8 April 2000 which focused on the theme “Iran after the elections”. The conference was labelled “anti-Islamic” and “anti-revolutionary” by Iranian television, which broadcast conference excerpts on 18 April. Another journalist, Akbar Ganji, has begun a hunger strike to denounce the torture he has been subjected to while in prison. RSF asks the Iranian authorities to drop their legal action and release the three journalists, as well as eight others who are currently imprisoned. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard stated: “It is unacceptable that a journalist can receive a death sentence for having peacefully expressed his opinion.” “Iran has become the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East,” he added, recalling that “since April, the Iranian legal system has closed about 30 reformist publications and launched proceedings against over 25 media professionals.” RSF lists Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as one of twenty-three enemies of press freedom in the world.
Arrested on 8 May, Rostamkhani, a journalist with the “Daily News” and “Iran Echo” and director of a translation company, appeared before Teheran’s Revolutionary Court on 9 November. The prosecutor, who accused him of being a “mohareb” (fighter against god), of having “received and distributed leaflets and press releases from opposition groups based abroad and of having participated in the organisation of the Berlin conference, which posed a threat to the country’s security,” sought the death penalty.
Echkevari, a journalist with “Neshat” and “Iran-é-Farda”, both publications which are currently suspended, was arrested on 5 August, upon his return from Europe. He had travelled there to seek treatment for his diabetes and participate in the Berlin conference. At the conference, the journalist and theologist notably stated that the wearing of the veil and the dress code for women had cultural and historical origins in Iran but were not necessary for Islam. During his trial, which was held in camera before the Special Court for the Clergy from 7 to 15 October, he was accused of “subversive activities against national security”, “defamation against the authorities”, “threatening the clergy’s prestige” and being a “mohareb”. The journalist is also threatened with the death penalty.
Nine other journalists are currently imprisoned in Tehran for “anti-Islamic propaganda”, “threatening national security”, “generating false news”, “threatening Islam”, etc. Four of them, Abdollah Nouri, Emadoldin Baghi, Latif Safari and Machallah Chamsolvaezine, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two and a half to three and a half years. The others, such as Ganji, are either awaiting or are currently under trial. This journalist from Sobh-é-Emrouz was arrested upon his return from Berlin on 22 April. He has been on a hunger strike since 9 November, the date on which his trial opened before the Revolutionary Court, to protest the torture he has undergone since his arrest. Besides his participation in the controversial conference, he is accused of having implicated in his articles Iranian personalities – including former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsandjani and former Information Minister Ali Fallahian – in the murder of opposition figures and intellectuals in late 1998. He risks a heavy prison sentence because of these accusations.
This wave of arrests is part of a larger effort by conservatives to repress press freedom. Following their defeat in the February legislative elections, the regime’s hardliners launched an attack against reformers and their key supporters, the press. On 17 April, the outgoing Iranian parliament, dominated by conservatives, notably adopted a controversial bill, reinforcing sanctions for violations of the press law. In August, the parliament tried to reform the law, but the effort was blocked by Ayatollah Khamenei, who is included in RSF’s list of twenty-three predators of press freedom. Within a period of six months, the Iranian justice system, dominated by the conservatives, closed about 30 reformist publications, arrested about 15 journalists and launched legal proceedings against over 25 newspaper editors and journalists.
