(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the arrest of journalists Reza Tehrani and Fazlollah Salavati in the latest raid on reformist activists. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked Shahroudi “to order the release of the journalists, as well as eighteen others who are currently imprisoned.” “It is […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF protested the arrest of journalists Reza Tehrani and Fazlollah Salavati in the latest raid on reformist activists. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked Shahroudi “to order the release of the journalists, as well as eighteen others who are currently imprisoned.” “It is unacceptable that two months before the presidential election, conservative-dominated Iranian courts continue to imprison reformist journalists,” he added. Moreover, the organisation expressed its concern about Hassan Youssefi Echkevari, a journalist and theologian arrested in August 2000 who now faces the death penalty. RSF considers Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be one of the world’s twenty-two worst enemies of press freedom. Iran is currently the largest prison for journalists in the world.
According to information collected by RSF, on 7 April 2001, forty-two persons were arrested and placed in custody. They included Reza Tehrani, editor-in-chief of the banned magazine “Kian”, and Fazlollah Salavati, editor-in-chief of the banned Isfahan weekly “Navid-é-Esfahan”, who were both charged with “collaborating with counter-revolutionary groups.” Those arrested all had connections to the Movement for the Liberation of Iran (MLI), a progressive Islamic party that was banned in March.
On 11 March, security agents raided a meeting at the home of Mohammad Bastehnaghar (a prominent dissident and journalist with the banned daily “Asr-é-Azadegan”), where about thirty people were gathered. Those arrested included Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, Hossin Rafaï and Saïde Madani, journalists with the banned bimonthly “Iran-é-Farda”, Taghi Rahmani and Fatemeh Govaraï of the banned weekly “Omid-é-Zangan”, Ali-Reza Redjaï, a journalist with “Asr-é-Azadegan”, Morteza Khazemian and Reza Raïs-Toussi of the banned daily “Fath”, and Bastehnaghar. Although Zeid-Abadi and Govaraï were released the following day, the seven others remain in detention. On 12 March, the head of Tehranâs Revolutionary Court stated that “the detainees were conspiring to overthrow the Islamic government.” The arrested journalistsâ families do not know where they are being detained.
Echkevari, a theologian and contributor to now-banned newspapers like “Adineh”, “Neshat” and “Iran-é-farda”, has been jailed since 5 August. Like many other journalists and intellectuals, he was prosecuted for his participation in a conference held in Berlin in April 2000 on the subject of “Iran after the elections”. He was accused of being a “threat to national security” because of his participation in the conference. The verdict of his trial, held in camera between 7 and 15 October, was never made public. Accused of being a “mohareb” (fighter against God), Echkevari may face the death penalty.
