(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the release of three journalists who received heavy prison sentences at an appeals trial held in their absence. Reza Alijani, editor-in-chief of the monthly “Iran-e-Farda” and winner of the RSF-Fondation de France 2001 press freedom award, Hoda Saber, an “Iran-e-Farda” manager, and journalist Taghi Rahmani, of the weekly “Omid-e-Zangan”, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the release of three journalists who received heavy prison sentences at an appeals trial held in their absence. Reza Alijani, editor-in-chief of the monthly “Iran-e-Farda” and winner of the RSF-Fondation de France 2001 press freedom award, Hoda Saber, an “Iran-e-Farda” manager, and journalist Taghi Rahmani, of the weekly “Omid-e-Zangan”, have been illegally imprisoned since 14 June 2003.
On 1 May 2004, Alijani learned that the appeals trial of the case involving the three journalists, which dates back to 2001, had been held in the absence of the accused and of their lawyers. Alijani was sentenced to four years in prison, Saber received a five-and-a-half year sentence and Rahmani got a seven-year sentence.
“Cover-ups and denials of justice continue to characterise detentions and trials, as these three cases clearly demonstrate. These three journalists, illegally imprisoned for nearly a year, have been sentenced on appeal without even being able to attend their own trials,” RSF said.
“This comes at a time when the head of the Iranian judiciary, Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, has just announced measures aimed at greater enforcement of Iranian laws, particularly concerning the accused’s rights to a lawyer and a fair trial, and when parliament has passed a law on 6 May banning torture and protecting civil rights. Everything suggests that judicial authorities are looking for an excuse to justify this arbitrary imprisonment and to create mass confusion around procedures and grounds for detention. We demand the release of these journalists,” the organisation added.
