(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release followed by IPI’s letter of appeal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi: Vienna, 24 November 2000 In open letters to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi, the Head of the Iranian Judiciary, the International Press […]
(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release followed by IPI’s letter of appeal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi:
Vienna, 24 November 2000
In open letters to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi, the Head of the Iranian Judiciary, the International Press Institute (IPI) expressed its deep concern over the safety of journalist Akbar Ganji (see bellow).
According to IPI’s sources, there are compelling reasons to believe that the life of detained Iranian journalist and writer Akbar Ganji may be in danger. In its open letters to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi, IPI expressed its concern at reports that Ganji has been subjected to grave mistreatment, including alleged physical abuse by prison guards. Ganji was arrested on 22 April as a part of a wider crackdown on the reformist press after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared them “bases of the enemy” and personally stepped in to stop a new bill designed to ease Iran’s stringent restrictions on the media. More than twenty newspapers have been closed since the crackdown began in April.
On 9 November, Ganji went on trial for acting against national security, spreading propaganda against the Islamic system and insulting religious sanctities, charges partly based on his participation in a conference in Berlin last April on the future of Iran’s reform movement. Reportedly, 19 people are being charged in connection with the conference, including popular politician Jamileh Kadivar. The acting prosecutor, Ahmad Sharifi, stated that “the conference was held with the aim of changing Iran’s system of religious government, insulting the sanctities, and rejecting Islamic judgements”.
Ganji has long been a thorn in the side of Iran’s conservative establishment. A former member of the Revolutionary Guards and Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance, he angered Iran’s conservative elite by alleging that top officials were behind the murders of dissident intellectuals, allegations he outlined in a best-selling book. In addition, he has broken a long-standing taboo in Iranian political discourse by demanding that former president Rafsanjani be held accountable for, among other things, his role in prolonging the 1980-88 war against Iraq, even though a cease-fire proposal had been put forward, and for the murders of critics and dissidents that occurred during his administration.
Considering the history in Iran of extra-judicial killings and “disappearances” of prominent dissidents, such as the killings of veteran political activists Darioush and Parvaneh Forouhar in 1998, and Ganji’s hard-hitting criticism of the authorities, reports that his life may be in danger are especially perturbing. In its letters, IPI stressed the fact that the charges brought against the defendants are in gross violation of their right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and called for the immediate release of Ganji and the others.
Letter of appeal:
H.E. Sayed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran,Iran
H.E. Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi
Head of Judiciary
Ministry of Justice
Tehran, Iran
Vienna, 24 November 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, is deeply concerned about the safety of journalist Akbar Ganji.
Ganji, a publisher, editor and writer, was arrested on 22 April 2000 following his participation in a conference, “Iran After the Elections”, held at the Heinrich Böll Institute in Berlin, Germany, from 7-9 April. We understand that the charges against Ganji relate to articles he has published, which implicate senior Iranian officials in the 1998 murders of a number of dissident intellectuals, as well as to statements he made at the Berlin conference. The charges include acting against national security, spreading propaganda against the Islamic system, and insulting religious sanctities. Many other prominent Iranian intellectuals who attended the Berlin conference on the future of Iran’s reform movement have also faced arbitrary detention and interrogation. 19 people, including 11 writers, have reportedly been detained and charged.
We understand that Ganji was brought before the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on 9 November. As the hearing was about to start, the journalist told the judge that he had been beaten by prison guards, who hung him upside down and kicked him in the head and stomach, and he showed reporters bruises on his face and body. We are also informed that he went on a hunger strike in protest against the treatment he has suffered during his months in prison, which included 80 days in solitary confinement without access to his family or legal representation.
IPI considers the charges brought against Ganji and the other writers in connection with their participation in the Berlin conference to be part of an ongoing campaign to muzzle Iran’s pro-reform press and a flagrant violation of their right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. We therefore call for a full investigation into Ganji’s allegations of ill-treatment and the immediate and unconditional release of Ganji and the others. We further urge that Ganji is treated humanely while he is still in detention and that he is granted access to his family and lawyer.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to the diplomatic representative of Iran in your country or to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in New York (Fax: + 1 212 867 70 86). Please print or broadcast stories on this case, with a copy to IPI Vienna.
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
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