(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Sharudi, RSF protested the two-month suspension of the daily “Siyassat-é-Rouz”. “We ask that you annul this decision,” stated RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. According to information obtained by RSF, on 24 February 2002, Judge Said Mortazi ordered the two-month suspension of the daily “Siyassat-é-Rouz”, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Sharudi, RSF protested the two-month suspension of the daily “Siyassat-é-Rouz”. “We ask that you annul this decision,” stated RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 24 February 2002, Judge Said Mortazi ordered the two-month suspension of the daily “Siyassat-é-Rouz”, a newspaper with close links to the conservative movement. The newspaper faces thirty-three complaints. Ali Yusefpur, the newspaper’s managing editor, told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the decision follows the lodging of a complaint by the Ministry of Labour, and added that he would appeal. The exact reasons behind the newspaper’s suspension are unknown.
RSF recalls that Iran holds the sad record of being the largest prison for journalists in the Middle East, with nineteen media professionals behind bars. Most of these prisoners have yet to be tried after months of imprisonment. According to the vice-minister of culture and Islamic orientation, more than 50 newspapers, including 24 dailies, have been shut down since March 2000, not counting the student press. Islamic Republic Guide Ali Khamenei is included on RSF’s list of international press freedom predators.
