(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced concern about the court summons received by journalist Emadoldin Baghi on 8 May 2005. The journalist was ordered to appear before a Tehran Revolutionary Court on 12 May. “We are extremely worried by this summons, which means that Emadoldin Baghi is to be arrested again, and we call on the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced concern about the court summons received by journalist Emadoldin Baghi on 8 May 2005. The journalist was ordered to appear before a Tehran Revolutionary Court on 12 May.
“We are extremely worried by this summons, which means that Emadoldin Baghi is to be arrested again, and we call on the European countries who have started a dialogue with Iran to closely follow the case of this ardent defender of free speech,” RSF said.
“We point out that the head of the Iranian judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, recently accused the courts and the police of exceeding their authority and of abusing the law in some of the summonses they issued and the ensuing arbitrary arrests,” the organisation added.
On 9 November 2004, Baghi was tried by a Tehran Revolutionary Court for writing articles for the pro-reform press. The following month he was given a suspended one-year prison sentence. However, after Tehran Prosecutor Said Mortazavi objected, the journalist’s sentence was changed to one year in prison with no parole.
Baghi was previously sentenced on 17 July 2000 to seven years in prison for “attacking national security” and “spreading false news”. On 23 October 2000, his sentence was reduced to three years in prison, and he was finally released on 6 February 2003 after spending more than two years in prison.
Baghi has continued to defend human rights since his release, both as editor-in-chief of the daily “Jomhuriat” (“Republican”), which was closed in July 2004 on the orders of the Tehran prosecutor, and as the founder of an organisation that defends the rights of prisoners of conscience. On 5 October 2004, he was barred from travelling outside the country.
The authorities recently closed the monthly “Jameh No” (“New Society”), which is edited by Baghi’s wife (see IFEX alert of 12 April 2005). In early May, Baghi and 255 other journalists signed a petition calling for a fair presidential election and the unconditional release of political prisoners, notably journalists.
