(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Sharoudi, RSF protested the suspension of the monthly film magazine “Gozarech-é-Film”. “This is the second time in four days that a film magazine has been suspended,” recalled Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “We ask you to reconsider your decision,” he added. According to […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Sharoudi, RSF protested the suspension of the monthly film magazine “Gozarech-é-Film”. “This is the second time in four days that a film magazine has been suspended,” recalled Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “We ask you to reconsider your decision,” he added.
According to information collected by RSF, on 27 January 2002, the Iranian legal authorities suspended the monthly film magazine “Gozarech-é-Film” for publishing “untrue articles” and “obscene photographs”. A few months ago, Chief Justice of Tehran Abassali Alizadeh publicly accused publication director Karim Zargar, journalist Hoshang Assadi and editor-in-chief Noshabeh Amiri of being “counter-revolutionaries” and “communists.” Approximately one week ago, Amiri received telephone threats from the organisation Adareh Amaken, which is close to the Iranian intelligence services.
“Gozarech-é-Film” is the second magazine to be hit with a suspension imposed by the legal authorities in the space of four days. The film weekly “Cinema Jahan” was suspended on 24 January following Alizadeh’s filing of a complaint. Judge Said Mortazavi brought an action against the magazine’s director for “untrue publications disturbing public opinion and creating an atmosphere of tension and insecurity in the press sector”, “publications contrary to proper conduct” and “misrepresentation of women”.
RSF recalls that Iran currently holds the dubious record of imprisoning the most journalists in the Middle East. Twenty journalists are currently behind bars. Most of them have still not been sentenced after spending several months in prison. According to the deputy minister for culture and Islamic guidance, over 50 newspapers (including 24 dailies) have been shut down since March 2000, not including student newspapers.
