(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: CPJ is pleased to announce the Web publication of “Iran: The Press on Trial,” a CPJ briefing on the recent press crackdown in Iran. EXCERPT: “When Iran’s top cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launched a scathing tirade against the country’s pro-reform newspapers on April 20, journalists braced […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release:
CPJ is pleased to announce the Web publication of “Iran: The Press on Trial,” a CPJ briefing on the recent press crackdown in Iran.
EXCERPT:
“When Iran’s top cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launched a scathing tirade against the country’s pro-reform newspapers on April 20, journalists braced for the inevitable showdown. On previous occasions when the supreme leader had excoriated the press, the conservative-dominated judiciary responded with remarkable swiftness, shutting down newspapers and hauling journalists to court for running afoul of the country’s tough press law. But few journalists could have expected the magnitude of what was to follow.
“Speaking before a congregation of 100,000 at Tehran’s Grand Mosque on April 20, Khamenei virtually accused the reformist press of being foreign agents. ‘There are 10 to 15 papers writing as if they are directed from one center, undermining Islamic and revolutionary principles, insulting constitutional bodies and creating tension and discord in society,’ said Khamenei in his speech. ‘Unfortunately, the same enemy who wants to overthrow the [regime] has found a base in the country,’ he added. ‘Some of the press have become the base of the enemy.’
“Beginning two days later, the judiciary initiated a crackdown that resulted in the indefinite closure of 16 newspapers and magazines that had formed the core of the country’s burgeoning reformist press corps and were the collective backbone of support for President Muhammad Khatami and his agenda of social and political liberalization. The shutdowns suggested that the bitter power struggle between Iran’s entrenched conservative establishment and President Khatami had entered a critical new stage.”
You can read the full text of the article on CPJ’s Web site (www.cpj.org)
