Iran: Reformist paper banned for violating news blackout
New York, July 16, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns last week’s ban on the reformist Iranian newspaper Azad. On July 11, Tehran’s Press Court ordered the pro-reform daily to cease publishing indefinitely because it had violated a government directive banning media commentary about the resignation of prominent cleric Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri. Iran’s Supreme…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Iran
The Iranian judiciary pushed ahead with its year-old crackdown on media dissent, further exacerbating an ongoing power struggle between conservative and reformist factions in the Islamic Republic. The crackdown began in April 2000, when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a fiery speech accusing the country’s reformist press, which generally backs President Muhammed Khatami’s agenda…
CPJ Condemns New Jail Term for Iranian Journalist Ganji
New York, July 16–CPJ strongly condemns the six-year prison sentence issued to imprisoned Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji today and reiterates calls for the release of all jailed journalists in Iran. Ganji was a popular investigative journalist whose reporting on the murders of Iranian intellectuals and dissidents in 1998 implicated several top government officials. Today he…
CPJ Hears from Imprisoned Iranian Journalist on World Press Freedom DayMessage From Jail Cell Says Press Enemies “Can Never Kill The Thought of Freedom”
New York, May 3, 2001 ƒ The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) received a message from imprisoned Iranian journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin to his “colleagues all over the world” on World Press Freedom Day, May 3, the same day that CPJ placed the man responsible for Shamsolvaezin’s imprisonment, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the top…
Attacks on the Press 2000: Iran
IRAN’S CONSERVATIVE-DOMINATED JUDICIARY WAGED AN EXTENSIVE CAMPAIGN against the local reformist press, closing newspapers and prosecuting outspoken journalists throughout 2000. At year’s end, the most influential reformist newspapers had been silenced, at least six journalists were in prison because of their work, and one publisher had narrowly escaped assassination. The conservative establishment’s unrelenting assault brought…
Iran Briefing: May 2000
New York, May 5, 2000 —When Iran’s top cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launched a scathing tirade against the country’s pro-reform newspapers on April 20, journalists braced for the inevitable showdown. On previous occasions when the supreme leader had excoriated the press, the conservative-dominated judiciary responded with remarkable swiftness, shutting down newspapers and hauling journalists to…