(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the arrest of Ezzatollah Sahabi, a reformist figure and director of the banned monthly “Iran-é-Farda”. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, asked Shahroudi to release the journalist, as well as eight others who are currently imprisoned. “Iran has become the largest […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the arrest of Ezzatollah Sahabi, a reformist figure and director of the banned monthly “Iran-é-Farda”. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, asked Shahroudi to release the journalist, as well as eight others who are currently imprisoned. “Iran has become the largest prison for journalists in the Middle-East today,” said Ménard, who recalled his “grave concern” about the fate of Hassan Youssefi Echkevari and Khalil Rostamkhani, two journalists accused of being “mohareb” (fighters against god). They face the death penalty (see IFEX alerts of 19 and 14 November, 17 and 11 October, 7 and 1 September, 8 August, 29 June, 1 May, 28 and 25 April 2000).
According to information collected by RSF, on 17 December 2000, Sahabi, a famous progressive opposition figure, and director of the monthly “Iran-é-Farda”, was arrested by court order. He is accused of “insulting the Guide [of the Islamic Republic]”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and “propaganda against the regime”, for statements he made during an address at Amir-Kabir Technical University, in Tehran, on 26 November. Moreover, Sahabi was previously arrested in June for his participation in the Berlin Conference, held from 7 to 8 April. He was released on bail in August. The conference, which included the participation of many other journalists and intellectuals, was described by authorities of the regime as “anti-Islamic” and “anti-revolutionary”(see IFEX alerts of 29 and 28 June 2000).
On 9 November, the prosecutor sought the death penalty against Rostamkhani, a journalist from the “Daily News” and “Iran Echo”. Arrested on 8 May, the journalist is accused, among other things, of “having participated in the organisation of the Berlin Conference, prejudicial to state security”. Rostamkhani was released on bail on 15 November. Echkevari, a journalist from the presently suspended publications “Neshat” and “Iran-é-Farda”, also faces the death penalty. Jailed since 5 August, he is accused of “subversive activities against national security” and “defaming the authorities”.
Furthermore, Massoud Behnoud, a journalist from the daily “Adineh”, arrested in August, was released on bail on 16 December.
