New York, June 28, 2000 --- A
clerical court in Tehran has ordered the indefinite closure of one
of the country's last remaining pro-reform newspapers, bringing to
20 the number of papers closed by Iranian courts over the past two
months.
On Sunday, June 25, Iran's Special Court for Clergy, a conservative
tribunal that operates independently of the regular Iranian court
system, ordered the Tehran-based daily Bayan to cease publishing
in order to prevent the paper from committing unspecified new "crimes."
The court order did not elaborate on the paper's alleged old "crimes."
The ban on Bayan is the latest in a series of closures that
the generally conservative Iranian judiciary has imposed on the reformist
press, which supports President Muhammad Khatami's agenda of social
and political liberalization.
In late April, judicial authorities ordered the indefinite closure
of 16 newspapers and magazines for "continuing to publish articles
against the bases of the luminous ordinances of Islam and the religious
sanctities of the noble people of Iran and the pillars of the sacred
regime of the Islamic Republic." Other closures followed over the
next few weeks, leaving just a few pro-reform titles publishing.
The crackdown followed an inflammatory April 20
speech by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in which
he said: "There are 10 to 15 papers writing as if they were directed
from one center, undermining Islamic and revolutionary principles,
insulting constitutional bodies and creating tension and discord in
society."
As of today, the banned Iranian publications include: Asr-e-Azadegan,
Fat'h, Aftab-e-Emrooz, Arya, Gozaresh-e-Ruz,
Bamdad-e-No, Payam-e-Azadi, Azad, Payam-e-Hajar,
Aban, Arzesh, Iran-e-Farda, Sobh-e-Emrooz,
Akhbar Eqtesad, Mosharaket, Ava, Jebheh
(a conservative paper), Ham-Mihan, Mellat, and Bayan.
In a separate development, members of the reformist-dominated Iranian
Majles (parliament), which won a resounding victory against conservatives
in February's election, are reportedly speeding up efforts to submit
a new draft press law that would replace harsh press legislation passed
by the outgoing conservative parliament earlier this year. See
CPJ's April 21 news alert .
The new bill reportedly includes a guarantee that legal proceedings
against journalists will be held in regular courts with juries, an
end to pre-trial bans against newspapers, and a provision allowing
banned publications to re-launch under new titles.
Click
here to read more about press freedom conditions in IRAN
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