(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF expressed its deep concern about the legal action initiated against two journalists, Emadoldin Baghi of the daily “Fath” and Hamid-Reza Kaviani of the weekly “Asr-e-ma”, and Mohammed-Reza Khatami, editor of the daily “Mocharekat” and the president’s brother. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Shahroudi, RSF expressed its deep concern about the legal action initiated against two journalists, Emadoldin Baghi of the daily “Fath” and Hamid-Reza Kaviani of the weekly “Asr-e-ma”, and Mohammed-Reza Khatami, editor of the daily “Mocharekat” and the president’s brother. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked Shahroudi “to use his influence to see to it that this legal action is ended.” The organisation recalled that “since the beginning of 1999, eight reformist journalists have been arrested. Three are currently imprisoned”.
Following the 12 March 2000 assassination attempt against Saïd Hajarian, the editor of the reformist daily “Sohb-e-emrouz”, who is close to President Mohammed Khatami, Information Minister Ali Younessi prohibited the press from publishing “any unofficial information, rumours, as well as the foreign press’ tendentious analyses about Hajarian’s attackers.” Most reformist dailies criticised this imposed press blackout and decided to ignore the ban.
As a consequence, on 19 March, Baghi was summoned by the Ministry of Information. On 2 April, he appeared before the Revolutionary Court for publishing information about the assassination attempt against Hajarian. On 5 April, Mohammed-Reza Khatami was interrogated by the Press Court on the same matter, following the filing of a number of compaints, notably by the police and the Council of Guardians.
As for Kaviani, on 28 June, he is to appear before the Special Court for Clergy because of his book “The Pursuit of the Criminals”, which is an invesigation into the murders of a number of intellectuals in late 1998. Most of the information contained in this book had already been published in “Asr-e-ma” in 1999.
