(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF requested “the annulment of the suspension of the reformist newspaper ‘Gunagoun’ and of the other nineteen reformist publications” (see IFEX alerts of 27 June, 23, 9 and 8 May, 25 April 2000 and others). Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, said he deplored […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF requested “the annulment of the suspension of the reformist newspaper ‘Gunagoun’ and of the other nineteen reformist publications” (see IFEX alerts of 27 June, 23, 9 and 8 May, 25 April 2000 and others). Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, said he deplored “the continuous deterioration of press freedom in Iran following the conservatives’ defeat in the general elections and the passing of a particularly repressive press law by the former Parliament.” “Today Iran has the sorry record of the country which has the greatest number of journalists imprisoned in the Middle East. Nine press professionals are detained in Tehran. About fifteen other journalists are prosecuted, and we fear that new arrests will occur very soon,” he added. The organisation believes that these “repressive measures incarnate the conservatives’ will to silence the reformist press, which echoes the aspirations of the Iranian people”.
RSFâs secretary-general also called on President Mohammed Khatami “to exert his full influence on the justice ministry and the new Parliament to secure the journalists’ release, the lifting of the bans on newspapers, and the accelerated passing of a new press law.”
According to the information collected by RSF, on 25 July 2000, the Iranian courts ordered the suspension of the weekly “Gunagoun”. The authorities claim that this publication was created in order to replace suspended reformist newspapers, something which is forbidden by the press law. Furthermore, on 24 July, the weekly’s editor-in-chief, Fatmeh Farahmandpour, was summoned to court for “insulting government officials”, “anti-islamic propaganda”, and “spreading false reports”.
