His Excellency Sayed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Guide to the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 3rd Ave, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
BY FACSIMILE
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to condemn the three-year prison sentence handed down on Saturday against Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, editor of the reformist daily Asr-e-Azadegan. We are also greatly alarmed by the conviction and jailing of Abdullah Nouri, the former Interior Minister and publisher of the daily Khordad, which also took place on Saturday.
On November 27, Iran’s Press Court found Shamsolvaezin guilty of forgery and insulting Islamic principles in connection with articles published in the now defunct newspaper Neshat. Shamsolvaezin, who edited Neshat until judicial authorities closed the paper in September, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 12 million rials. He remains free on bail pending an appeal.
The case against Shamsolvaezin stems from Neshat‘s publication of two articles criticizing capital punishment in Iran, one of which was written by Hossein Baqerzadeh, an Iranian activist based in Britain. The court accused Shamsolvaezin of offending Islamic principles as well as forging Baqerzadeh’s article. Baqerzadeh has publicly acknowledged writing the piece.
In a separate verdict handed down on the same day that Shamsolvaezin was convicted, Abdullah Nouri was found guilty of religious dissent by the Special Court for Clergy on a number of counts in response to articles published in Khordad. He was sentenced to five years in prison and banned from practicing journalism for the same period of time. Khordad was ordered to close. Nouri began serving his sentence at Tehran’s Evin Prison over the weekend.
CPJ views the convictions of Mashallah Shamsolvaezin and Nouri as the latest attempt by judicial authorities to muzzle independent journalism. They constitute a flagrant violation of the internationally recognized right to free expression. At least five newspapers have been shut down by Iranian courts in 1999. Several journalists, meanwhile, have been prosecuted or investigated for their published work.
Imprisoning journalists and closing newspapers because of material they publish constitute unacceptable infringements on the universally accepted right to free expression. We call on Iranian authorities to ensure the immediate release of Abdullah Nouri and other detained journalists and to allow all banned newspapers to resume publication without further interference.
Thank you for your attention to these most important matters. We look forward to a reply at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Iran
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His Excellency Sayed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Guide to the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 3rd Ave, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017