Iran bans media coverage of disbanded journalists union
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
00:03GMT—8:03PM/EST
IRAN – PRESS – ASSOCIATION – CENSOR
Washington, 7 July (IranVNC)—Iran’s Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance, whose functions include control of the media, has distributed a “confidential” directive to many of Iran’s widely-circulated newspapers, requiring them to cease their coverage of news related to the Association of Iranian Journalists, a union that was disbanded at the order of the Ministry of Labor last month.
In its directive, the censorship arm of Iran’s government told newspapers not to mention the name of the organization, which is a professional and non-governmental entity.
But, some of the newspapers published the text of the directive, which included the name of the banned association.
Amir Kabir University of Tehran’s student newsletter [AUT News] was among those publications to leak the news of the ban, as well as the letter of Ali Mazroueei, chairman of the board of directors of the independent journalists association, protesting the “illegal” disbandment of the 4,000-member association.
In a related event, a prominent member of the association, Mashallah Shams-ol-Vaezin has been sentenced to 10 lashes and just over eight months in prison. He had been convicted in absentia several months ago on charges of “slander and spreading falsehood” for questioning the raison d’être of the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Shams-ol-Vaezin, who currently lives in London, can pay approximately $4,320 [40 million Iranian Rials], in lieu of the punishment of lashing.
Sources: Amir Kabir University student newsletter, Iranian Journalists Association website
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.
(Original article written in Persian.)