Trial held for former press director general
Tehran, may 30, irna -- former director general of the culture and islamic
guidance ministry's domestic press department issa saharkhiz went on trial
in a special court branch 1410 for civil servants here sunday on charges
of allowing zan (woman) daily to publish a special supplementary during
the sixth press festival.
the court presided over by judge saeed mortazavi counted saharkhiz
charges as disobedience to judicial ruling issued by the revolution's court,
failure to fulfill his legal duties in this regard
and issue permit for publication of zan supplementary in defiance of
court letter no. 124/1242 dated may 4.
the defendant in his statement said it was not clear whether the letter,
issued by third branch of the revolution's court, was an order or a ruling.
''to our best knowledge, a court hearing in presence of jury has not been
held in connection with a ban on publication of the daily zan,'' he said.
the ruling of the revolution's court on the daily called for suspension
of its publication until further notice and it did not speak about the
closure of the paper. no verdict has been issued yet for revoking of the
daily's license. thus, to publish a special supplementary was quite legal
and at the same time it did not mean that the daily could continue its
publication.
saharkhiz further said the revolution's court exercised double-standard
as it has shown no reaction to similar cases by other papers.
the defendant's attorney, gholamali riyahi, told the court that per
article five of the public and revolution's courts law, these courts are
qualified to deal with six types of offenses and they are not supposed
to deal with press offenses. he further rejected the charges of his client's
disobedience of law.
at the conclusion, judge mortazavi said the court ruling will be communicated
to saharkhiz later on.
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