(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the arrest of Taqi Rahmani, a journalist with the now-banned newspaper “Iran-e-Farda”, and the sentencing of Mohammed Reza Zohdi, director of the also now-banned reformist daily “Arya”, to four months’ imprisonment. The organization asked Ayatollah Shahroudi “to do everything in […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the arrest of Taqi Rahmani, a journalist with the now-banned newspaper “Iran-e-Farda”, and the sentencing of Mohammed Reza Zohdi, director of the also now-banned reformist daily “Arya”, to four months’ imprisonment. The organization asked Ayatollah Shahroudi “to do everything in his power to ensure that Taqi Rahmani is released very soon”. RSF also called on the head of the judiciary “to intervene in the case of Mohammed Reza Zohdi in order to ensure no prison sentence is given in the appeal case”. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard expressed his “concern about the increase in the number of journalists’ arrests and the suspension of newspapers in Iran over the last six months”. Rahmani is the tenth journalist imprisoned in the country. Five others, who are awaiting trial, could be imprisoned. Since 1 January 2000, twenty reformist or moderate publications have been shut down in Iran.
According to the information collected by RSF, Rahmani, a journalist with the reformist monthly “Iran-e-Farda”, was summoned by the revolutionary court of Shahr-e-Kord, in central Iran, and charged with “insulting the Islamic Republic’s guide”. The journalist is still detained. The court demanded bail of two millions toman (US$2,800, 3,050 euros) for his release.
On the same day, Zohdi was sentenced by a Tehran court to four months in jail, banned from all press activities and ordered to pay a fine of an undisclosed amount. He was convicted of “libel”, “spreading lies”, and “violating the election law”. Plaintiffs included the Intelligence Ministry and the police. “Arya”, the reformist daily led by Zohdi, was banned on 23 April, following the publication of articles considered a threat to Iran’s Islamic system and revolutionary values (see IFEX alert of 25 April 2000).
RSF reminded the ministry that in a document dated 18 January, Abid Hussain, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, asked all governments “to ensure that press offences are no longer punishable by prison sentences, except in cases involving racist or discriminatory remarks or calls to violence. Imprisonment as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion is a serious violation of human rights.”
