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| Axis of Evil |
| Reformist paper suspended six months, director jailed |
| 2002-07-24 |
| A Tehran court upheld Wednesday the verdict to suspend a leading reformist paper for six months and to sentence its director to six months in prison, the official IRNA news agency reported. The Norouz paper is to be suspended for six months as of July 25. MP Mohsen Mirdamadi, its director, who also heads the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, was sentenced by the appeals court to six months and two days in prison. Mirdamadi was also barred from any journalistic activity for four years and was fined two million rials (250 dollars). But it was not clear if and when he would begin his prison term. Pretty much shuts them down for good, and keeps him from starting another paper... The well-known MP was found guilty for several charges, notably: "17 cases of anti-regime propaganda, insulting leaders, publishing lies, encouraging hooligans to undermine public order, propagating moral decadence." Those who brought charges against him were mainly the Revolutionary Guards, the legal chief of state radio-television, and the electoral supervision office. The unelected shadow government... Mirdamadi sparked controversy in early May and angered conservatives when he insisted secret talks had taken place between the Iranian and US officials. The judiciary vowed to prosecute anyone spreading such "lies." Whether the "lies" are true or not... Iran's judiciary, dominated by conservative-minded clerics, has in the past two years suspended 22 reformist papers and sent to prison over a dozen journalists. Nouruz is the last of the reformist dailies, I believe. It's been in existence a little over a year. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |