(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC has received the following information in an Amnesty International Urgent Action dated 25 April 2000 and feels that IFEX subscribers may wish to consider taking similar action. Journalist Akbar Ganji was interrogated and arrested on 22 April. Amnesty International fears he may be ill-treated and possibly tortured, and considers him a […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC has received the following information in an Amnesty International Urgent Action dated 25 April 2000 and feels that IFEX subscribers may wish to consider taking similar action.
Journalist Akbar Ganji was interrogated and arrested on 22 April. Amnesty International fears he may be ill-treated and possibly tortured, and considers him a prisoner of conscience.
He faces ten charges relating to articles he wrote implicating senior Iranian political figures, including Hojjatoleslam Rafsanjani, in the 1998 murders of a number of intellectuals and writers, and statements he made at a conference on “Iran after the elections” held in Berlin on 7-9 April. The conference has received enormous publicity within Iran, and some religious figures have accused some of those who attended of apostasy, or turning away from Islam.
Ganji was questioned by the Tehran Press Court and later taken to Evin Prison. Bail will be set in the next few days and a trial is expected soon.
Background Information
Ganji’s arrest comes during a clampdown on freedom of expression in Iran. The publisher and editor of the now-banned newspaper “Neshat” (Joy), Latif Safari and Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, have recently been imprisoned in connection with articles questioning the death penalty. Other journalists, including “Asr-e Azadegan” contributor, Emadeddin Baqi, have also recently been interrogated. Publisher Abdollah Nouri was imprisoned in November 1999 in connection with articles in the now banned newspaper “Khordad”.
These arrests and the closure of thirteen newspapers in Iran, including “Fatth” (Victory), “Asr-e Azadegan” (Ear of the Free) and “Iran-e Farda” (Iran of Tomorrow) mark a serious escalation in the attack on freedom of expression. The papers were closed by judicial authorities under a previously unused article in the constitution, rather than the methods previously employed to suspend or close newspapers (see IFEX alerts of 24, 20 and 7 April 2000 and others). In July 1999, the closure of the newspaper “Salam” led to country-wide protests and widespread human rights abuses, including torture, incommunicado, detention and numerous unfair trials, at which four death sentences were reportedly handed down.
A warrant for the arrest of popular cleric, Hojjatoleslam Yousefi Eshkevari, has also been issued in connection with statements he is alleged to have made at the Berlin conference.
Attacks on the press and journalists have been condemned by the Secretary of the government-approved Islamic Human Rights Commission, Mohammad Hassan Zia’i-Far.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the ministry of justice:
– expressing your fear that Ganji may be ill-treated and possibly tortured
– noting your concern over this serious escalation in the attack on freedom of expression
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahrudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr, Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Head of the Judiciary, Tehran, Iran
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
