Iran culture ministry questions revolutionary court
ruling on press ban
TEHRAN, April 8 (AFP) - Iran's culture ministry on Thursday called on
a banned moderate paper to apologise for publishing a message from the
wife of the ousted shah but lashed out at a revolutionary court for interfering
in the case.
"The possibility of making mistakes is unavoidable in journalism,"
said the ministry, which is led by moderates and is close to reformist
President Mohammad Khatami.
It said the Zan newspaper's publication of the message was due to "negligence"
and that editor Faezeh Hashemi, a moderate MP, should "clearly apologise
for the mistake."
But the ministry challenged the competence of the revolutionary court
in the matter, stressing that press offenses "should be dealt with
by the press court in open sessions and in the presence of a jury."
It urged the judiciary to "respect the freedom of writing and safeguard
the boundaries of press freedom."
The court slapped an indefinite ban on Zan as of Wednesday over its
publication of a new-year message from ex-empress Farah, the wife of the
shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution.
It was the first time since the revolution that Farah's annual message
for the Iranian new year, which began on March 21, has been published in
the Iranian press.
"The conservatives want to block moderates supporting the president
ahead of next year's legislative elections," Hashemi said Wednesday.
The regime's conservatives have stepped up their attacks on moderates
and reformers in recent weeks following February municipal elections that
saw a sweeping victory for the reformist camp.
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