His Excellency Sayed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
25 April 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemns the closure of pro-reform newspapers in Iran and the imprisonment of Akbar Ganji and Latif Safari. Furthermore, IPI deplores the failure of the judiciary to follow proper legal procedures when deciding to ban the newspapers.
It has been brought to the attention of IPI that over recent days some 14 pro-reform newspapers have been suspended by the Iranian judiciary, including eight daily newspapers. Among the publications closed were the mass circulation Fath and Asr-e-Azadegan, Aban, Arya and Aftab-e Emrouz. The justification for the ban of these newspapers was that the newspapers “disparaged Islam and the religious elements of the Islamic revolution.”
The banning of pro-reform newspapers comes at a time when journalists were also detained and imprisoned. On Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Court rejected a final appeal from Latif Safari who had been sentenced to 30 months imprisonment by the press court for “insulting religious sanctities”. The same court had closed the popular Neshat newspaper and jailed editor-in–chief, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, on similar charges. Safari’s imprisonment occurred one day after another pro-reform journalist, Akbar Ganji, was detained after legal complaints were made to the Revolutionary Court.
IPI considers the banning of these newspapers and the detention and imprisonment of journalists to be a grave breach of press freedom and expression. In particular, IPI wishes to point out that the suppression of the free press constitutes a blatant and unwarranted violation of the right to free information under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Iran is a signatory.
Specifically, IPI would like to remind you that a free press is integral to sustaining a healthy cultural and political life and that the suppression and banning of newspapers, without proper judicial hearings, is contrary to the free spirit and fundamental freedoms of any democratic society.
In view of this, IPI calls upon you to reverse the decisions made over recent days and to restore the freedom to publish.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
