Reformist Iranian paper reappears after two week ban
TEHRAN, Feb 8 (AFP) - A moderate paper run by the daughter of former
Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was back on the newsstands Monday
after a two week ban for defaming a senior policeman.
Zan (Woman), a moderate paper run by MP Faezeh Hashemi, reappeared
in a format very similar to two other moderate papers -- Khordad, run by
an impeached former interior minister, and Sobh-e-Emruz, headed by a former
intelligence minister, both supporters of moderate President Mohammad Khatami.
Zan was ordered shut from January 24 to February 7 by a Tehran court
for printing "defamatory" material against police security chief
General Mohammad Naghdi.
The paper effectively accused him of participating in an attack on
two senior government officials last September, when it quoted a "witness"
who said he saw Naghdi in the fray.
The general denied any connection with the attack on former vice president
Abdollah Nuri and Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani -- two leading moderate
figures in the government -- and demanded action against Zan for "defaming"
him.
The court also gave Hashemi a 500 dollar fine.
Hashemi, whose father served twice as Iran's middle-of-the-road president
until 1997, has become one of Khatami's more prominent supporters, waging
a campaign against hardline conservatives dominating parliament and the
judiciary.
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