(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned a wave of harassment of Kurdish journalists by local authorities in Iranian Kurdistan. The region has been hit by clashes in recent weeks resulting in the closure of the daily “Achti” and the weekly “Asou” on the orders of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. “In this time of […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned a wave of harassment of Kurdish journalists by local authorities in Iranian Kurdistan. The region has been hit by clashes in recent weeks resulting in the closure of the daily “Achti” and the weekly “Asou” on the orders of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
“In this time of tension, Iranian Kurdistan has more need of its journalists than ever. We condemn this crackdown on the Kurdish press,” RSF said. “We call on the authorities to stop the harassment of Kurdish journalists and to lift the suspension orders against ‘Achti’ and ‘Asou’.”
“Asou”, which is published in both Kurdish and Farsi, was closed by judicial officials in Sanandaj (the capital of Kurdistan) on 3 August 2005, most likely because of its editorial line and its coverage of the events shaking the region.
The closure of “Achti” followed, most probably for the same reasons. Published in Tehran in Kurdish, it had recently received permission to move from a weekly to a daily publication.
Several journalists are known to have been arrested and many more are probably being held. Roya Tolou, editor-in-chief of “Resan” newspaper, was detained by police in Sanandaj on 2 August. Ejlal Ghavami, a journalist with the weekly “Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan”, was arrested the same day.
Other journalists have been summoned to appear before local authorities for reasons that are unknown but probably related to reports published in the past few weeks.
“Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan” managing editor Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand was summoned to a Sanandaj court on 4 August. He appeared, but without his lawyer, who is none other than Abdolfattah Soltani, arrested on the orders of Tehran prosecutor Saïd Mortazavi on 30 July (see IFEX alert of 2 August 2005).
This is not the first time Kabovand has been harassed by local judicial officials. He was arrested and appeared before a Sanandaj court on 15 June 2004, for “spreading separatist ideas and publishing false reports”. The court ordered the closure of his newspaper two weeks later.
