(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 24 April 2000 CPJ news alert: Iran Press Crackdown Intensifies 14 Newspapers are Closed, Two More Journalists Imprisoned New York, N.Y., April 24, 2000 – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today expressed outrage over the closure of 14 Iranian newspapers and the imprisonment of journalists Akbar Ganji and […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 24 April 2000 CPJ news alert:
Iran Press Crackdown Intensifies
14 Newspapers are Closed, Two More Journalists Imprisoned
New York, N.Y., April 24, 2000 – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today expressed outrage over the closure of 14 Iranian newspapers and the imprisonment of journalists Akbar Ganji and Latif Safari, by hard-line political forces trying to muzzle the country’s vocal pro-reform press.
In a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the New York-based press-freedom watchdog called for the immediate release of Ganji, Safari and three other imprisoned journalists and urged that the sweeping judicial ban against the newspapers be reversed.
“The decision to ban the 14 newspapers amounts to state censorship on a massive scale,” said CPJ executive director Ann K. Cooper. “It is even more outrageous that Akbar Ganji and Latif Safari have actually been deprived of their liberty for the ‘crime’ of publishing opinions with which judicial authorities happened to disagree.”
A copy of the letter to Ayatollah Khamenei follows.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world.
April 24, 2000
His Excellency Sayed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
c/o Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 3rd Ave, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
BY FACSIMILE: 212-867-7086
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged about the recent closure of 14 Iranian newspapers and the imprisonment of journalists Akbar Ganji and Latif Safari.
On April 23 and 24, Iranian judicial authorities ordered the indefinite closure of 14 newspapers and magazines for “continuing to publish articles against the bases of the luminous ordinances of Islam and the religious sanctities of the noble people of Iran and the pillars of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.” A communiqué issued by the authorities on April 23 and published in the local press added that the newspapers had been closed in order to “prevent them from committing new offenses, from affecting society’s opinions, and arousing concern among the people.”
The first wave of closures coincided with the April 23 jailing of Latif Safari, director of the banned daily Neshat, which was closed by court order in September, 1999. Safari was taken to Evin prison after an appellate court upheld a 30-month jail sentence that the court had imposed on September 20, 1999. Safari was convicted on several charges, including defamation, inciting unrest, and “insulting the sanctity and tenets of Islam.” These charges stem from articles published in Neshat during Safari’s tenure as director, including an opinion piece that challenged the use of capital punishment in Iran.
The banned publications are: Asr-e-Azadegan, Fat’h, Aftab-e-Emrooz, Arya, Gozaresh-e-Ruz, Bamdad-e-No, Payam-e-Azadi, Azad, Payam-e-Hajar, Aban, Arzesh, Iran-e-Farda, Sobh-e-Emrooz, and Akhbar Eqtesad.
One day before Safari’s imprisonment, journalist Akbar Ganji, who writes for the daily Sobh-e-Emrooz, was arrested after being summoned by a Revolutionary Court to hear a number of complaints filed against him concerning articles that he had published in Iranian newspapers. The
official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), citing Ganji’s attorney, reported on Saturday that a total of ten complaints had been filed against the journalist by government institutions that included the Revolutionary Guards, an elite military unit under Your Excellency’s direct control, and the Intelligence Ministry.
At least three other Iranian journalists are currently in prison as a result of their journalistic work and in clear violation of their internationally guaranteed right to free expression. We note with grave concern that this recent wave of attacks against the Iranian press follows public statements Your Excellency made last week in which you said that “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.”
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, CPJ views the imprisonment of Akbar Ganji and Latif Safari and the banning of 14 newspapers as a flagrant violation of their right to free expression, as guaranteed under international law. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights grants all people, including journalists, the right to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
CPJ urges Your Excellency to exert your influence to ensure that all five journalists imprisoned in Iran are freed immediately. In addition to Ganji and Safari, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Mohsen Kadivar, and Abdullah Nouri are also serving lengthy prison sentences for journalism-related offenses. We also call on you to ensure that judicial authorities immediately reverse Sunday’s decision to close the 14 newspapers.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to your timely response.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
cc:
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Congressional Committee to Support Writers and Journalists
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Association of Broadcasting
International Federation of Journalists
International Federation of Newspaper Publishers
International Journalism Institute
International PEN
International Press Institute
National Association of Black Journalists
National Press Club
Newspaper Association of America
The Newspaper Guild
North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Society of Professional Journalists
South Asian Journalists Association
World Press Freedom Committee
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
His Excellency Sayed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
c/o Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 3rd Ave, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Fax: +212 867 7086
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