October 31
Parliament moves to close loophole that helped press crackdown
TEHRAN, Oct 31 (AFP) - The Iranian parliament made a bid Tuesday to
block further press closures by passing a motion to wipe out a legal loophole
used by the conservative courts to shutter a number of papers. The reform-majority
chamber overwhelmingly passed a motion allowing newspaper directors to
change from weekly to daily publication without being subjected to a new
police investigation >>>
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October 30
Parliament targets censors
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's reformist-dominated parliament moved Sunday
to halt a press crackdown by the country's hard-line judiciary, which has
ordered more than 30 newspapers to shut in the past six months. The 290-seat
Majlis drafted a bill that would bar the judiciary from closing newspapers
on grounds that they lack its authorization to operate. Newspaper licenses
are issued by the Press Supervisory Board, but the judiciary says publishers
need its permission as well >>>
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October 29
Revolutionary court opens trial over "anti-Islamic" Berlin
seminar
TEHRAN, Oct 29 (AFP) - A revolutionary court on Sunday opened the closed-door
trial of several allies of President Mohammad Khatami who attended a controversial
so called "anti-Islamic" conference on reforms in Iran. Only
two of the defendants were in court Sunday after the tribunal announced
it would try the defendants "in groups," a judicial official
said, cited by state television. It did not name the pair >>>
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October 24
Iran says would-be assassins now back in jail
TEHRAN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The justice department in Iran's capital
city said on Tuesday all the would-be assassins of key reform strategist
Saeed Hajjarian were now in jail, a day after the department's chief said
they had all been let go. Eight men, among them members of the security
forces, were sentenced to jail terms after the assassination bid. But when
an MP visited a prison in the southern city of Shiraz last week, one of
the men supposed to be incarcerated in the jail was not there >>>
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Judiciary closes three more pro-reform newspapers
TEHRAN, Oct 24 (AFP) - Iran's conservative-led judiciary has ordered
the closure of three weekly newspapers close to the reform movement, state
radio reported on Tuesday >>>
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October 23
Shamsolvaezin winner of press freedom award
New York, October 23, 2000 (Committee to Protect Journalists) -- The
winners of the Tenth Annual International Press Freedom Awards are: Mashallah
Shamsolvaezin, reformist editor of several now-banned Iranian dailies.
Shamsolvaezin was jailed in April after being sentenced to 30 months imprisonment
for allegedly insulting Islamic principles in an article that criticized
capital punishment in Iran. He is currently serving his term in Tehran's
notorious Evin Prison >>>
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Report: Another paper closed
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's hard-line judiciary has ordered a small weekly
newspaper to stop publishing and has warned more closures are to come,
according to media reports Monday. Reasons for closing Sobh-e-Omid were
not made clear, but hard-liners opposed to reforms initiated by President
Mohammad Khatami have shut down more than two dozen pro-democracy publications
in recent months in a bid to weaken his power base >>>
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Court reduces jail term of pro-reform journalist
TEHRAN, Oct 23 (AFP) - Iran's appeals court has cut the five-and-a-half-year
jail term of pro-reform journalist Emadeddin Baghi to three years, Culture
Minister Ataollah Mohajerani told AFP on Monday. The appeals court has
found him innocent of insulting the judiciary, the country's powerful Guardian
Council, Iran's state television, as well as a number of officials >>> FULL
TEXT
October 22
Judiciary confirms that dissident cleric charged with apostasy
TEHRAN, Oct 22 (AFP) - Iran's judiciary confirmed Sunday that jailed
dissident cleric Hassan Yusefi Eshkevari has been formally accused of apostasy,
a charge that could carry the death penalty. The state IRNA news agency
cited a prosecutor from the conservative Special Court for Clergy (SCC)
saying that Eshkevari had also been charged with hostility to God, corruption
on Earth, and other serious offences >>>
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MP appears in court over new pro-reform newspaper
TEHRAN, Oct 22 (AFP) - An Iranian MP appeared in court Sunday after
an inquiry was launched into his new pro-reform newspaper which hit the
news-stands only two weeks ago, the official IRNA news agency said. Qolamheydar
Ibrahimbai-Salami, director of the Hambastigi daily, said no formal complaint
had been filed but that he had been questioned about the paper, IRNA reported
>>>
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October 19
Montazeri defends reformist cleric
TEHRAN, Oct 19 (AFP) - Ayatollah Ali Montazeri, one-time designated
successor to the founder of Islamic Iran, defended Thursday an ailing reformist
cleric accused of blasphemy and possibly facing the death sentence. In
a fax to the wife of Hassan Yussefi-Eshkevari, a copy of which was obtained
by AFP, Montazeri, who has lived under guard in Qom, south of Tehran, since
1989, said he was "very sorry about the unfounded accusations."
>>>
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German politicians, scientists slam Iranian cleric's trial
BERLIN, Oct 19 (AFP) - German political, religious and scientific community
leaders have joined in condemning a closed-door trial in Iran of a pro-reform
cleric, Hassan Yussefi-Eshkevari, a German political foundation said here
Wednesday. Eshkevari reportedly challenged, in a speech in April to a conference
in Germany on the future of reforms in Iran, whether Islamic law requires
women to keep their heads and bodies covered >>>
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October 18
Culture Ministry bans six weekly tabloids
TEHRAN, Oct 18 (AFP) - Iran's culture ministry has slapped a temporary
ban on six weekly tabloids for repeatedly ignoring its directives, a newspaper
said Wednesday. The Abrar paper said their cases had been referred to Tehran's
conservative press court for a full investigation but did not specify what
the violations had been >>>
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Human rights progress marred by attack on press freedom: UN
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (AFP) - Progress on human rights in Iranthis
year has been overshadowed, notably by attacks on press freedom anda high
number of executions, according to a UN report released onTuesday. "The
most dramatic and far-reaching event" of the period January 1 toAugust
15 was "the accelerating attack on the freedom of the press, whichled
to the virtual closing down of the entire reformist press," it said
>>>
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Reformists issue joint defence of Eshkevari
TEHRAN, Oct 18 (AFP) - Pro-reform Iranian parties have issued a jointstatement
in defence of an outspoken dissident cleric who could be facingthe death
sentence at his closed-door trial, press reports said Wednesday. A coalition
of supporters of President Mohammad Khatami denounced thecase against ailing
cleric Hassan Yusefi-Eshkevari, whose trial by theconservative Special
Court for Clergy (SCC) ended Saturday >>>
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October 16
Pro-reform parliament mulling private TV networks
TEHRAN, Oct 16 (AFP) - Iran's pro-reform parliament is studying a constitutional
amendment that would permit the nation's first-ever private television
networks, an MP told the official IRNA news agency Monday. Valiollah Shojapourian,
deputy head of parliament's culture committee, said lawmakers were looking
at ways to create channels that would be owned "by non-governmental
entities and not by the people." >>>
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October 15
New business paper hits newsstands
TEHRAN, Oct 15 (AFP) - A new pro-free trade business newspaper hit Tehran's
newsstands on Saturday, the third press launch in Iran in a little more
than a month. The Tejarat-e Azad (Free Trade) paper will be published twice
a week but its directory board said it hopes to become a daily publication
as soon as possible to help "take a positive step" to boost the
free-trade movement >>>
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October 13
NITV signal to Iran blocked - company
LOS ANGELES, Oct 13 (AFP) - The signal into Iran of a US-based Iranian
television station has been blocked from that country, the French satellite
transmission company broadcasting the signal says. A "rogue carrier"
from Iran interrupted the signal of Los Angeles-based National Iranian
TV three times since October 1, and the station's transmission has been
halted since last Sunday, GlobeCast said in a statement Thursday >>> FULL TEXT
October 11
Ganji shares international Press Freedom Award
October 11, 2000, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Toronto
- A journalist who was kidnapped in Colombia and another who is in jail
in Iran will share the honours at this year's international Press Freedom
Awards dinner in Toronto next month. The awards by Canadian Journalists
for Free Expression (CJFE) recognize journalists who demonstrate a commitment
to freedom of expression and who overcome enormous odds simply to produce
the news >>>
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Eshkevari found guilty of apostasy, war against Islam
TEHRAN, Oct 16 (AFP) - A closed-door trial has found an ailing pro-reform
Iranian cleric guilty of a battery of serious charges including apostasy
and waging war against Islam, the official IRNA news agency said Monday.
Hassan Yusefi-Eshkevari could now be facing the death sentence after the
conservative Special Court for Clergy (SCC) found him guilty on several
counts after an in-camera trial condemned by human rights groups >>> FULL TEXT
October 10
TV signal to Iran not blocked, US-based company says
LOS ANGELES, Oct 10 (AFP) - The signal into Iran of a US-based Iranian
television station is not being blocked, contrary to the station's statements,
the carrier said Monday. Eutelsat, one of Europe's leading satellite operators,
said the signal had been interrupted only for a few minutes for "technical
reasons." Last Thursday, Los Angeles-based National Iranian TV said
its signal had been blocked since September 30 >>>
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Reformist cleric tried behind closed doors
TEHRAN, Oct 10 (AFP) - Reformist cleric Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari, accused
of acting againststate security after taking part in a Berlin seminar considered
to be anti-Islamic, has been tried in secret, press reports said Tuesday.
The reformist daily Aftab-e-Yazd said the ultra-conservative Special Court
for Clergy religious court tried him Saturday but had no information on
any verdict >>>
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October 9
Files on political assassinations to be reviewed
TEHRAN, Oct 9 (AFP) - Iran's second-highest ranking judge said Sunday
that files on the 1998 assassinations of several leading intellectuals
and dissidents would be reviewed because they have "deficiencies,"
state television reported. "The judges and attorneys attending to
this file will once again hand it over to representatives of the executive
and judicial bodies due to existing deficiencies," Hadi Marvi said,
as cited by Iranian television >>>
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October 7
New reformist daily hits Iran's newsstands
TEHRAN, Oct 7 (AFP) - A new reformist daily close to Iran's moderate
President Mohammad Khatami hit the country's newsstands Saturday, the second
newspaper launch in a month since a crackdown on the pro-reform press.
The Hambastigi (Solidarity) paper, founded by MP Qolamheydar Ibrahimbai-Salami,
said in its inaugural editorial it was for "reflecting the people's
voice and defending the people's rights."
>>> FULL TEXT
October 5
Wives of jailed journalists demand visiting, telephone rights
TEHRAN, Oct 5 (AFP) - Wives of imprisoned Iranian journalists called
on MPs Wednesday to intervene on behalf of their husbands, who they say
have been deprived of visiting and telephone rights, the official IRNA
news agency reported. Speaking on behalf of the women, Fariba Abbassgholi-Zadeh
said that her husband, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, as well as Emmadeddin Baghi,
Akbar Ganji, Latif Safari, Hassan Yussefi Ashkevari and Ahmad Zidabadi,
have been prohibited from receiving visits or making telephone calls for
the past two weeks >>>
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October 4
Rogue carrier blocks U.S.-based National Iranian TV transmission
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- GlobeCast, a French-based satellite
transmission company, confirmed today in a letter to U.S.-based National
Iranian TV (NITV) that a rogue carrier, originating from Iran or a country
close to Iran, has blocked its transmission all over Europe and the Middle
East >>>
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October 3
Jailed journalists complain of prison condition
TEHRAN, Oct 3 (Hayat-e No) - Detained reformist journalists Mashallah
Shamsolvaezin and Emadedin Baghi have written a letter to the majlis and
the judiciary complaining about the treatment of prisoners >>>
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October 2
Daily paper banned for picture of nude man
TEHRAN, Oct 1 (AFP) - A conservative Iranian daily newspaper aimed at
children and young adults was suspended by the press court for publishing
a picture of a naked man, press reports said on Sunday. Gonbade-Kaboud
was ordered closed for publishing the picture of the man in its last edition
on Saturday, the Tehran Times reported, adding that managing director Mohammad
Safizadeh would soon face trial over the photo >>>
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