Return-Path: Received: from imo-d06.mx.aol.com (imo-d06.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.38]) by fastersite.propagation.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id XAA16204 for ; Wed, 19 Feb 2003 23:49:45 -0600 From: Iaczine@aol.com Received: from Iaczine@aol.com by imo-d06.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v34.21.) id i.157.1c15feab (1320) for ; Thu, 20 Feb 2003 00:46:10 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <157.1c15feab.2b85c5a0@aol.com> Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 00:46:08 EST Subject: RSF - Journalist Arrested in Iran for Criticizing Khamenei To: Iaczine@aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_157.1c15feab.2b85c5a0_boundary" X-Mailer: 7.0 for Windows sub 10641 Status: --part1_157.1c15feab.2b85c5a0_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 19 February 2003 (la version fran=E7aise suit) IRAN - Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.fr/) A journalist arrested for having criticised the supreme Guide On 18 February the journalist Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara was arrested at home.=20 This detention came a few days after the publication on his website,=20 www.alliran.net, of an article in which he criticised the Guide of the=20 Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei. 'While a delegation from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights led b= y=20 Louis Joinet is touring Iran, this arrest shows, once again, that the=20 regime's hardliners are ignoring pressing human rights demands from the=20 international community' said Robert M=E9nard, secretary-general of Reporter= s=20 Without Borders. The organisation is also concerned that the members of the=20 UN delegation may be closely monitored and may not yet have been allowed to=20 visit the jailed journalists. Reporters Without Borders has asked the head o= f=20 Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi, to immediately release Mohame= d=20 Mohsen Sazegara and nine other journalists including Alireza Eshraghi who ha= s=20 been jailed since the beginning of the year. On 18 February, early in the afternoon, Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara, manager of=20 the information site www.alliran.net, was arrested at his home by=20 plainclothes security officers. His home, then his office, were searched.=20 Many documents were confiscated. In the week of 10 February, the journalist=20 had published on his site an article in which he called for constitutional=20 reform. He also wrote that the Iranian popular will was 'being held hostage= =20 to the decisions of six hard-line clerics on the Guardian Council' (a body=20 dominated by hardliners and whose members are appointed by the Guide who=20 supervises elections and ratifies laws). 'The experience of the past five=20 years shows that the Islamic establishment cannot be reformed. It cannot be=20 efficient,' wrote the journalist who also described the power of the Guide o= f=20 the Republic Ayatollah Khamenei as 'dictatorial'. Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara=20 was the editor of publications today shut down: Jameh, Neshat and Tous. Since 12 January 2002, Alireza Eshraghi, a Hayat-=E9-No journalist, has been= =20 jailed at Evine prison (Teheran). The journalist's mother, Mehri Zayanderodi= =20 Zadeh, is very worried and sent a letter to President Khatami on 17 January=20 stating that 'her son has fallen victim to covert settling of scores.' She=20 insists on the fact that the journalist, now jailed for over forty days in a= n=20 individual cell, has lost much weight and is suicidal. She also complains of= =20 unkept promises made by the interrogators of Alireza Eshraghi, according to=20 whom he would be released on bail. According to her, the journalist was=20 deprived of the presence of barristers during his interrogation.'Save my=20 son,' she concluded. The journalist's arrest and the closure of Hayat-=E9-No came after the=20 publication of a caricature on 8 January past. The latter represented a=20 white-bearded old man wearing a long black cloak sitting on the ground with=20 the thumb of a giant hand pressing on his head (and the caption 'Roosevelt'=20 on the sleeve). The caricature illustrated a meeting with a social science=20 professor on the topic of social collapse. The drawing, taken from an=20 official American site, was published in 1937 in an American newspaper to=20 illustrate President Roosevelt's pressure on the US Supreme Court. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------= -- --------------------------------------- 19 f=E9vrier 2003 IRAN Un journaliste arr=EAt=E9 pour avoir critiqu=E9 le Guide Le journaliste Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara a =E9t=E9 arr=EAt=E9, le 18 f=E9vrier= , =E0 son=20 domicile. Cette interpellation intervient quelques jours apr=E8s la diffusio= n,=20 sur son site www.alliran.net, d'un article dans lequel il critiquait le Guid= e=20 de la R=E9publique islamique, l'ayatollah Khamenei. "Alors qu'une d=E9l=E9gation de la Commission des droits de l'homme des Nati= ons=20 unies, men=E9e par Louis Joinet, se trouve en mission en Iran, cette=20 arrestation d=E9montre, une fois encore, que les durs du r=E9gime ignorent l= es=20 injonctions de la communaut=E9 internationale en mati=E8re de droits de l'ho= mme",=20 a d=E9clar=E9 Robert M=E9nard, secr=E9taire g=E9n=E9ral de Reporters sans fr= onti=E8res.=20 L'organisation s'inqui=E8te, par ailleurs, de ce que les membres de la=20 d=E9l=E9gation onusienne soient =E9troitement surveill=E9s et n'aient pas en= core pu=20 rendre visite aux journalistes incarc=E9r=E9s. Reporters sans fronti=E8res d= emande=20 au chef de la magistrature, l'ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi, la lib=E9ration=20 imm=E9diate de Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara et de neuf autres journalistes, dont=20 Alireza Eshraghi, emprisonn=E9 depuis le d=E9but de l'ann=E9e. Le 18 f=E9vrier, en d=E9but d'apr=E8s-midi, Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara, directe= ur du=20 site d'information www.alliran.net, a =E9t=E9 arr=EAt=E9 =E0 son domicile pa= r des=20 membres des services de s=E9curit=E9 en civil. Son domicile, puis son bureau= , ont=20 =E9t=E9 fouill=E9s. De nombreux documents ont =E9t=E9 confisqu=E9s. Dans la=20= semaine du 10=20 f=E9vrier, le journaliste avait diffus=E9, sur son site, un article dans leq= uel=20 il appelait =E0 une r=E9forme de la Constitution. Il =E9crivait =E9galement=20= que la=20 volont=E9 du peuple iranien =E9tait "prise en otage par six religieux du Con= seil=20 des gardiens" (instance, domin=E9e par les conservateurs, dont les membres s= ont=20 nomm=E9s par le Guide qui supervise les =E9lections et ratifie les lois).=20 "L'exp=E9rience de ces cinq derni=E8res ann=E9es montre que le pouvoir relig= ieux ne=20 peut =EAtre r=E9form=E9. Il ne peut =EAtre efficace", =E9crivait le journali= ste qui=20 qualifiait encore de "dictatorial" le pouvoir du Guide de la R=E9publique,=20 l'ayatollah Khamenei. Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara a =E9t=E9 le directeur de=20 publications aujourd'hui suspendues Jameh, Neshat et Tous. Depuis le 12 janvier 2002, Alireza Eshraghi, journaliste de Hayat-=E9-No, es= t=20 d=E9tenu =E0 la prison d'Evine (T=E9h=E9ran). Tr=E8s inqui=E8te, la m=E8re d= u journaliste,=20 Mehri Zayanderodi Zadeh, a adress=E9, le 17 janvier, au pr=E9sident Khatami=20= une=20 lettre dans laquelle elle d=E9clare : "Mon fils est la victime de r=E8glemen= ts de=20 comptes qui se jouent derri=E8re le rideau." Elle insiste sur le fait que le= =20 journaliste, incarc=E9r=E9 depuis plus de quarante jours dans une cellule=20 individuelle, a perdu beaucoup de poids et pense au suicide. Elle se plaint= =20 =E9galement des promesses non tenues, formul=E9es par les personnes qui avai= ent=20 interrog=E9 Alireza Eshraghi, selon lesquelles il serait lib=E9r=E9 sous cau= tion.=20 Selon elle, le journaliste n'a pas pu recevoir la visite d'avocats durant so= n=20 interrogatoire. "Je vous demande de sauver mon fils", conclut-elle. L'arrestation du journaliste et la fermeture de Hayat-=E9-No sont intervenue= s=20 apr=E8s la publication d'une caricature, le 8 janvier dernier. Cette derni= =E8re=20 repr=E9sentait un homme =E2g=E9, =E0 la barbe blanche, v=EAtu d'une longue r= obe noire=20 et assis par terre, avec le pouce d'une main g=E9ante pressant sur sa t=EAte= (et=20 l'inscription "Roosevelt" sur la manche). La caricature illustrait un=20 entretien avec un professeur en sciences sociales sur le th=E8me de=20 l'effondrement social. Ce dessin, pris sur un site officiel am=E9ricain, ava= it=20 =E9t=E9 publi=E9 en 1937 dans un journal am=E9ricain pour illustrer les pres= sions du=20 pr=E9sident Roosevelt sur la Cour supr=EAme am=E9ricaine. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Virginie Locussol (norddelafrique@rsf.org / northernafrica@rsf.org /=20 iran@rsf.org) Bureau Nord de l'Afrique - Iran / Northern Africa - Iran desk Reporters sans fronti=E8res / Reporters Without Borders 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie 75009 Paris - FRANCE T=E9l. (33) 1 44 83 84 84 Fax. (33) 1 45 23 11 51 --part1_157.1c15feab.2b85c5a0_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 19 February 2003 (la version fran=E7aise suit)

IRAN - Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.fr/)
A journalist arrested for having criticised
the supreme Guide

On 18 February the journalist Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara was arrested at home.=20= This detention came a few days after the publication on his website, www.all= iran.net, of an article in which he criticised the Guide of the Islamic Repu= blic, Ayatollah Khamenei.

'While a delegation from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights led b= y Louis Joinet is touring Iran, this arrest shows, once again, that the regi= me's hardliners are ignoring pressing human rights demands from the internat= ional community' said Robert M=E9nard, secretary-general of Reporters Withou= t Borders. The organisation is also concerned that the members of the UN del= egation may be closely monitored and may not yet have been allowed to visit=20= the jailed journalists. Reporters Without Borders has asked the head of Iran= 's judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi, to immediately release Mohamed Mo= hsen Sazegara and nine other journalists including Alireza Eshraghi who has=20= been jailed since the beginning of the year.

On 18 February, early in the afternoon, Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara, manager of=20= the information site www.alliran.net, was arrested at his home by plaincloth= es security officers. His home, then his office, were searched. Many documen= ts were confiscated. In the week of 10 February, the journalist had publishe= d on his site an article in which he called for constitutional reform. = He also wrote that the Iranian popular will was 'being held hostage to the=20= decisions of six hard-line clerics on the Guardian Council' (a body dominate= d by hardliners and whose members are appointed by the Guide who supervises=20= elections and ratifies laws). 'The experience of the past five years shows t= hat the Islamic establishment cannot be reformed. It cannot be efficient,' w= rote the journalist who also described the power of the Guide of the Republi= c Ayatollah Khamenei as 'dictatorial'.  Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara was the= editor of publications today shut down: Jameh, Neshat and Tous.

Since 12 January 2002, Alireza Eshraghi, a Hayat-=E9-No journalist, has been= jailed at Evine prison (Teheran). The journalist's mother, Mehri Zayanderod= i Zadeh, is very worried and sent a letter to President Khatami on 17 Januar= y stating that 'her son has fallen victim to covert settling of scores.' She= insists on the fact that the journalist, now jailed for over forty days in=20= an individual cell, has lost much weight and is suicidal. She also complains= of unkept promises made by the interrogators of Alireza Eshraghi, according= to whom he would be released on bail. According to her, the journalist was=20= deprived of the presence of barristers during his interrogation.'Save my son= ,' she concluded.

The journalist's arrest and the closure of Hayat-=E9-No came after the publi= cation of a caricature on 8 January past.  The latter represented a whi= te-bearded old man wearing a long black cloak sitting on the ground with the= thumb of a giant hand pressing on his head (and the caption 'Roosevelt' on=20= the sleeve). The caricature illustrated a meeting with a social science prof= essor on the topic of social collapse. The drawing, taken from an official A= merican site, was published in 1937 in an American newspaper to illustrate P= resident Roosevelt's pressure on the US Supreme Court.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------= -----------------------------------------
19 f=E9vrier 2003


IRAN
Un journaliste arr=EAt=E9 pour avoir critiqu=E9 le Guide

Le journaliste Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara a =E9t=E9 arr=EAt=E9, le 18 f=E9vrier= , =E0 son domicile. Cette interpellation intervient quelques jours apr=E8s l= a diffusion, sur son site www.alliran.net, d'un article dans lequel il criti= quait le Guide de la R=E9publique islamique, l'ayatollah Khamenei.

"Alors qu'une d=E9l=E9gation de la Commission des droits de l'homme des Nati= ons unies, men=E9e par Louis Joinet, se trouve en mission en Iran, cette arr= estation d=E9montre, une fois encore, que les durs du r=E9gime ignorent les=20= injonctions de la communaut=E9 internationale en mati=E8re de droits de l'ho= mme", a d=E9clar=E9 Robert M=E9nard, secr=E9taire g=E9n=E9ral de Reporters s= ans fronti=E8res. L'organisation s'inqui=E8te, par ailleurs, de ce que les m= embres de la d=E9l=E9gation onusienne soient =E9troitement surveill=E9s et n= 'aient pas encore pu rendre visite aux journalistes incarc=E9r=E9s. Reporter= s sans fronti=E8res demande au chef de la magistrature, l'ayatollah Mahmoud=20= Shahroudi, la lib=E9ration imm=E9diate de Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara et de neuf= autres journalistes, dont Alireza Eshraghi, emprisonn=E9 depuis le d=E9but=20= de l'ann=E9e.


Le 18 f=E9vrier, en d=E9but d'apr=E8s-midi, Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara, directe= ur du site d'information www.alliran.net, a =E9t=E9 arr=EAt=E9 =E0 son domic= ile par des membres des services de s=E9curit=E9 en civil. Son domicile, pui= s son bureau, ont =E9t=E9 fouill=E9s. De nombreux documents ont =E9t=E9 conf= isqu=E9s. Dans la semaine du 10 f=E9vrier, le journaliste avait diffus=E9, s= ur son site, un article dans lequel il appelait =E0 une r=E9forme de la Cons= titution. Il =E9crivait =E9galement que la volont=E9 du peuple iranien =E9ta= it "prise en otage par six religieux du Conseil des gardiens" (instance, dom= in=E9e par les conservateurs, dont les membres sont nomm=E9s par le Guide qu= i supervise les =E9lections et ratifie les lois). "L'exp=E9rience de ces cin= q derni=E8res ann=E9es montre que le pouvoir religieux ne peut =EAtre r=E9fo= rm=E9. Il ne peut =EAtre efficace", =E9crivait le journaliste qui qualifiait= encore de "dictatorial" le pouvoir du Guide de la R=E9publique, l'ayatollah= Khamenei. Mohamed Mohsen Sazegara a =E9t=E9 le directeur de publications au= jourd'hui suspendues Jameh, Neshat et Tous.

Depuis le 12 janvier 2002, Alireza Eshraghi, journaliste de Hayat-=E9-No, es= t d=E9tenu =E0 la prison d'Evine (T=E9h=E9ran). Tr=E8s inqui=E8te, la m=E8re= du journaliste, Mehri Zayanderodi Zadeh, a adress=E9, le 17 janvier, au pr= =E9sident Khatami une lettre dans laquelle elle d=E9clare : "Mon fils est la= victime de r=E8glements de comptes qui se jouent derri=E8re le rideau." Ell= e insiste sur le fait que le journaliste, incarc=E9r=E9 depuis plus de quara= nte jours dans une cellule individuelle, a perdu beaucoup de poids  et=20= pense au suicide. Elle se plaint =E9galement des promesses non tenues, formu= l=E9es par les personnes qui avaient interrog=E9 Alireza Eshraghi, selon les= quelles il serait lib=E9r=E9 sous caution. Selon elle, le journaliste n'a pa= s pu recevoir la visite d'avocats durant son interrogatoire. "Je vous demand= e de sauver mon fils", conclut-elle.

L'arrestation du journaliste et la fermeture de Hayat-=E9-No sont intervenue= s apr=E8s la publication d'une caricature, le 8 janvier dernier. Cette derni= =E8re repr=E9sentait un homme =E2g=E9, =E0 la barbe blanche, v=EAtu d'une lo= ngue robe noire et assis par terre, avec le pouce d'une main g=E9ante pressa= nt sur sa t=EAte (et l'inscription "Roosevelt" sur la manche). La caricature= illustrait un entretien avec un professeur en sciences sociales sur le th= =E8me de l'effondrement social. Ce dessin, pris sur un site officiel am=E9ri= cain, avait =E9t=E9 publi=E9 en 1937 dans un journal am=E9ricain pour illust= rer les pressions du pr=E9sident Roosevelt sur la Cour supr=EAme am=E9ricain= e.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Virginie Locussol (norddelafrique@rsf.org / northernafrica@rsf.org / iran@rs= f.org)
Bureau Nord de l'Afrique - Iran / Northern Africa - Iran desk

Reporters sans fronti=E8res / Reporters Without Borders
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris - FRANCE
T=E9l. (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax. (33) 1 45 23 11 51

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