(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 28 July 1999 Human Rights Watch press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 29 July, 27 July, 26 July, 21 July, 15 July, 8 July 1999 and others** Assault on Independent Press in Iran Intensifies (New York, July 28, 1999) — The assault by Iranian authorities against publishers and editors […]
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 28 July 1999 Human Rights Watch press
release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 29 July, 27 July, 26 July, 21 July, 15 July, 8 July
1999 and others**
Assault on Independent Press in Iran Intensifies
(New York, July 28, 1999) — The assault by Iranian authorities against
publishers and editors associated with the country’s independent press has
become wider and more intense in recent days. On July 25, the Special Court
for the Clergy convicted Hojatoleslam Seyyid Mohamed Musavi-Khoeiniha,
publisher of the daily newspaper Salam, on charges of misinforming the
public. Kazem Shukri, an editor of Sobh-e Emrouz, remains in incommunicado
detention since July 20 without a hearing or an opportunity to post bail.
Journalists and editors in Iran have told Human Rights Watch that legal
proceedings are being prepared against two other reformist newspapers,
Khordad and Neshat, apparently in an effort to silence them.
“Kazem Shukri should be released immediately. No one should be imprisoned
solely for exercising their right to free expression,” said Hanny Megally,
executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human
Rights Watch. Megally also called on Iran’s leaders to end the ban of Salam,
and described the effort as “a blatant attempt to gag Iran’s vibrant
independent press.”
The conviction of Hojatoleslam Musavi-Koeiniha, a member of the clergy and a
proponent of political reform and freedom of the press, follows the July 7
order by the Special Court for the Clergy shutting down the Salam following
the daily’s publication of a government memorandum dealing with plans to
suppress those publications favoring political reform. The memorandum named
several members of the parliament as linked with the planned campaign
against the press. Hojatoleslam Musavi-Koeiniha was convicted on July 25 by
the same Special Court on charges of defaming a government official,
publishing insulting language, and misinforming the public. The ban against
Salam is indefinite and remains in force.
The Special Court’s banning of Salam on July 7 helped to set in motion
several days of large-scale student protests in Tehran and other major
cities. The other contributing factor, also on July 7, was the first passage
in the parliament, known as the Majlis, of draft legislation to increase the
powers of the government-controlled Press Supervisory Board. This would
change its composition to make it more conservative, authorize the
prosecution of writers and journalists as well as publishers and editors,
and authorize prosecutions in Revolutionary Courts for alleged offenses in
print. Pending final passage of this legislation, government opponents of
political reform have been using the Special Court for the Clergy to attack
independent journalists and suppress reformist publications, many of which
are run by reform-minded clergy. The Special Court for the Clergy reports
directly to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Although much of the proceedings of the one-day trial before the normally
secretive court were broadcast on national television, and Hojatoleslam
Musavi-Koeiniha spoke in his own defense, the procedures of the court fell
far short of international standards, in particular the right to be tried
before an independent and impartial judicial body. In this case, among the
jury of eight appointed by the judge were several prominent anti-reform
officials, including Hojatoleslam Hoseinian, director-general of the Islamic
Propagation Society. Hoseinian is known to be a close associate of Saeed
Emami, the former Information Ministry official who authored the memorandum
published by Salam and whom the government has identified as responsible for
the assassinations of at least five independent writers and political
personalities in late 1998.
Kazem Shukri, editor of the center feature pages of Sobh-e Emrouz, another
reformist daily, has been detained since July 20 following publication of an
article which, according to the Tehran public prosecutor, distorted and
insulted Islam. He has not been granted a hearing before a judge or
permitted the opportunity to post bail. The paper’s managing editor, Saeed
Hajjarian, was also summoned and questioned but released on bail. The Press
Affairs department of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued a
statement on July 21 declaring that Shukri’s detention and interrogation
were “unprecedented” and in violation of the country’s press law.
Independent Iranian journalists have told Human Rights Watch that Shukri is
being pressured to implicate others in the publication of an article which
the Tehran Public Prosecutor contends was offensive to Islam. The Islamic
Republic News Agency (IRNA), citing the legal office of the judiciary,
reported on July 21 that writers as well as editors “can also be prosecuted
for the criminal content of their articles.”
The independent print media have become increasingly central in Iranian
political life, and are an important forum for debate about the future
direction of the Islamic Republic. In the absence of legally recognized
opposition political parties, independent newspapers play a vital role in
presenting alternative viewpoints and promoting greater respect for basic
human rights in the country. Iranian journalists have told Human Rights
Watch that two other reformist dailies, Khordad and Neshat, will also face
legal proceedings designed to silence them. The apparent aim of those behind
the crackdown is to suppress the independent press as much as possible in
advance of parliamentary elections scheduled for next February.
