(RSF/IFEX) – On 24 October 2002, RSF protested the sentencing of journalist Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari to seven years in prison. The organisation also called on the European Union (EU) to step up pressure on the Iranian regime to respect human rights, stop hounding journalists and give news of those it has jailed. “The press freedom […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 24 October 2002, RSF protested the sentencing of journalist Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari to seven years in prison. The organisation also called on the European Union (EU) to step up pressure on the Iranian regime to respect human rights, stop hounding journalists and give news of those it has jailed.
“The press freedom situation in Iran gets more disturbing every day,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard, who noted that 10 journalists are currently imprisoned in Iran, serving sentences of three to 11 years. Iran is the Middle East’s worst offender for jailing journalists.
At a 21 October meeting, EU foreign ministers expressed their concern over Iran’s violations of human rights, freedom of expression and the rights of minorities and women.
On 12 October, Eshkevari was summoned from prison by Tehran’s Religious Court and told he had been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. This includes four years for saying that wearing the Islamic veil and other female dress codes were rooted in Iran’s culture and history and were not necessary in Islam, one year for taking part in an international conference in Berlin in 2000 on political and social reform in Iran, and two years for “spreading false news”.
Eshkevari, a theologian and contributor to the monthly “Iran-é-Farda”, was jailed on 5 August 2000 in Teheran’s Evin prison. He was tried in secret by the special religious court in October that year, but the verdict had not been disclosed until now.
The editor of the weekly “Jamee-é-No”, Fatemeh Kamali Ahmad Sarahi, wife of journalist Emadoldin Baghi (who has been in jail since May 2000), was interrogated on 21 October by the Press Court along with Ezatollah Sahabi, “Iran-é-Farda”‘s managing editor.
That same day, Reza Alijani, editor of “Iran-é-Farda” and winner of last year’s RSF – Fondation de France Prize, was summoned by the Tehran Revolutionary Court for the first time since his release on bail on 16 December 2001. He was first arrested on 24 February 2001, and his trial continues.
In recent weeks, Payam Afzalinejad, of “Cinema-Jahan”, has been summoned by Adareh Amaken, an organisation close to the intelligence services, and Mansour Bozorgian, of “Golestan-é-Iran”, has been interrogated by the Press Court.
Meanwhile, the family of 71-year-old journalist Siamak Pourzand, jailed for “spying and undermining state security” and “having links with monarchists and counter-revolutionaries”, has had no news of him for several months.
He was seized by security police on 29 November 2001. On 3 May 2002, he was given an 11-year prison sentence, which was confirmed on appeal in early July. He was initially held in a secret location for four months, with no access to a lawyer or doctor.
Pourzand headed Tehran’s artistic and cultural centre and was also a cultural commentator for several reformist newspapers that have since been shut down. He was also frequently heard as a commentator on foreign radio stations.
