Iran's Council of Defense for Press Freedom in a statement expressed concern over a new wave of arrests of web writers, Iran's Shargh Newspaper reported. The Council called on the Judiciary Head to publicize the results of the body's investigation of the web writers case. The statement criticized the arrest of Mojtaba Samienezhad for a second time and Arash Sigarchi's 14-year imprisonment ruling. Editor-in-chief of Gilan-e Emrouz, Arash Sigarchi was previously a journalist at the daily Bahar, a reformist newspaper that was banned in 2000, and has translated a book entitled "Headline Writing", which remains unpublished. Sigarchi is a member of the Journalists Association of Iran and Reporters sans frontieres. Sigarchi's lawyer, Mohammad Seifzadeh, told ISNA that he has objected to the verdict. His charges range from espionage and insulting top Iranian officials, ISNA reported.| It's the "thinking for himself" charge that carries the steepest penalties. |
"The Center for Defending Human Rights has taken charge of Sigarchi's case and I am a member of the center. Sigarchi's family agreed with that we take charge of Sigarchi's case," he said. The lawyer noted that according to a verdict of Gilan Islamic Revolutionary Court's Branch 3, Sigarchi has been sentenced to 14 years in jail. Paris-based Reporters Without Frontiers (RSF) said Sigarchi had been updating a weblog in which he has spoken about the detention of 20 online journalists. |