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Reporters Without Borders protests arrest warrant for newspaper editor

Washington, 2 July (IranVNC)—The international press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders [RSF], yesterday issued a statement condemning a warrant issued yesterday for the arrest of Mohammad Javad Haqshenas, the managing director of the Iranian reformist newspaper, E’temad-e Melli.

By: IranVNC
Published: Thursday, July 03, 2008

00:22GMT—8:22PM/EST

PRESS – FREEDOM – IRAN – ARREST

Washington, 2 July (IranVNC)—The international press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders [RSF], yesterday issued a statement condemning a warrant issued yesterday for the arrest of Mohammad Javad Haqshenas, the managing director of the Iranian reformist newspaper, E’temad-e Melli. They called the warrant another example of the tightening of press freedom in Iran.

The warrant for Haqshenas’ arrest was issued after the publication of an article in the newspaper that was critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The article, written by moderate cleric Rasoul Montajebnia, criticized statements made by Ahmadinejad in which he suggested he was being supported by the Twelfth Shiite Imam [Hidden Imam].

“Repressive measures against journalists who oppose President Ahmadinejad or dare to criticize his policies have become commonplace,” the press freedom group’s statement read. “The room for freedom in Iran … continues to get smaller by the day and the president is increasingly being regarded as untouchable,” the statement added.

E’temad-e Melli is the mouthpiece for the reformist political party of the same name, led by Mehdi Karroubi, who ran unsuccessfully against Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential elections. Speaking at the closing of a meeting of regional heads of the E’temad-e Melli party in May, Karoubi criticized Ahmadinejad for saying that the Hidden Imam is running the country, Rooz News reported.

Sources: Reporters Without Borders website, Rooz News
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.

(Original article written in Persian.)