Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiMonday, May 03, 2004
<b>Press Freedom Advocate Issues Report on Abuses</b>
• On the occasion of the international press day, the society for defense of press freedom in Iran issued a report on freedom of press abuses in the past year, based entirely on domestic news sources. The report counts 355 cases of press law violations, one fatality – Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in custody of head injuries she suffered during interrogation – 35 newspapers closings by court orders, 74 journalists waiting for courts to hand out judgments after their trials, 10 cases of assault and battery of journalists, six journalists banned from publishing, 16 journalists in jail, 178 cases of filtering of the Internet news sites, 32 journalists arrested after being summoned for interrogation, and 14.33 billion rials ($1.80 million) total bail set for releasing journalists from jail. No other trade has been subjected to such abuse, the society's spokesman, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, editor of four banned newspapers, said in a press conference held in Tehran to unveil the report. Isfahan MP Ali Mazroui, head of the trade association of journalists, said only the newspapers which turned their pages into propaganda sheets for the government managed to survive. MP Mohsen Torkashvand, member of the Majles national security and foreign relations committee, said the legal limits of press freedoms should become clear, since we have witnessed the closing of more than 110 newspapers, due to misunderstandings about the limitations. (Keyvan Hosseini)
• Paris-based press freedom advocacy group the Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) said in its annual report that Iran is the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East, with harsh censorship, but also a prolific and vigorous written press that is clearly helping the growth of civil society.
<b>Reformist MP Warns about Rise of a Fascist Movement</b>
• The problem is not the conservative faction, but a totalitarian right-wing coalition, which has fascistic characteristics, reformist MP Mohsen Armin, who was banned by the Guardians Council from standing for reelection, said in a speech on Sunday at the semi-public convention of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO). He said the conservatives have popular support, but the totalitarian movement is a mafia-like alignment of fascist forces, aimed at limiting democracy and civil society institutions, according to the state-owned “students” news agency ISNA.
• The reformist faction's website <i>Rooydad</i> says a great percentage of the country's reformists back the formation of a secular republic, instead of the present Islamic republic, while members of the pro-reform party the Participation Front and the reformists MPs continue to back the Islamic Republic. Spokesman of the society for defense of press freedoms Mashallah Shamsolvaezin said the current political climate has led to the rise of a new democracy movement which supports neither of the regime's two factions.
<b>Tea Growers Beat Head of Factories' Union</b>
• To protest against lack of payment from tea factories, tea growers attacked a number of tea processing factories in the Lahijan area, and assaulted the head of the factories' union. Meanwhile, the Khatami administration is considering closing the national tea authority, which regulates tea production and distribution. (Ashkan Pazouki, Tehran)
<b>Stocks Prices Drop In a Sudden Sell Off</b>
• Under pressure from political uncertainties and overall economic slump, Tehran stock exchange's index fell by 92 points on Sunday. Tehran economic daily the <i>Donya-ye Eqtesad</i> said the market was dominated by extreme anxiety, and daily <i>Hayat-e Now Eqtesadi</i> said the huge money supply is moving towards an unknown destination, considering the recent drop in stock prices as well as prices of other investments, such as gold and foreign currencies. Uncertainties in the foreign policy horizon, and doubts about the government's economic policies after the recent cabinet shuffle, prompted Sunday's massive sell off, <b>Radio Farda</b>'s Paris-based economic commentator <b>Fereydoun Khavand</b> says. However, he quotes optimistic observers as saying that the stock market slump would not last, so long as world crude prices remain high.
<b> Health Ministry to Pay Damages to HIV Contaminated Blood Transfusion Victims</b>
• After a four-year trial, a court in Tehran ordered the health ministry to pay 200 billion rials in damages to the victims of HIV-contaminated blood transfusions. Three officials of the national blood transfusion center were dismissed and sentenced to jail sentences.
<b>Earthquake Victims Sue Bam Authorities for Mismanagement</b>
• Thousands of the Bam earthquake victims filed complaints against the city's officials for negligence, mismanagement of the relief effort, mishandling of the recovery of victims from under the rubble, and failing to distribute the domestic and foreign aid. Kerman-based journalist <b>Shahram Parsa-Motlaq</i> says.
<b>Khatami Publishes 48-Page Letter to Explain Failures</b>
• In a bid to explain the failure of his government to implement promised reforms I the past seven years, President Khatami issued an open letter in the form of a booklet. The content of letter resembles Khatami's past speeches and the comments common in public discussions, <b>Radio Farda</b>'s broadcaster <b>Siavash Ardalan</b> says. In his letter, Khatami worries that disappointment with the reform process may prompt some people to exit the regime, or hope for another kind of government. He reiterates his belief in the Islamic system of government, and while he complains about the spirit of despotism in the Iranian society, he avoids admitting that the Islamic Republic is a dictatorship.
<b>Oil Minister's Plan to Boost Petrochemical Production by 600 Percent</b>
• Oil minister vowed to boost Iran's petrochemical production by 600 percent by the year 2015. London-based oil and petrochemical industry reporter <b>Niasir Shirkhani</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Iran's petrochemical industry has suffered setbacks in the past 10 years, due to a lack of foreign investment. However, he adds, with the higher oil prices in the recent years, the prospect of attracting investment appear to have improved. Iran's advantage in the petrochemical industry is the country's vast gas reserves. (Shahran Tabari, London)
<b>Row with Airlines Over Fuel Prices Delays Opening New Tehran Airport</b>
• Teheran's new international airport has seen its opening delayed until May, officially because a rise in the price of jet fuel has sparked a row with airlines. Following its ceremonial inauguration on February 1, more than 30 years after the actual beginning of work, the Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) was scheduled to start handling international flights at the end of March. But since then, a series of setbacks has caused the date to be put off, first to April 20 and now to May 20. Transportation minister Ahmad Khorram said he will stay at the airport until the Saturday opening. <b>Ali-Asghar Ardakan</b>, who was a member of design and engineering team who developed the airport project 30 years ago, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the airport was planned in a different era, when Tehran was expecting 12 million foreign passengers per year. It is too big for the present time that the number of Tehran's international passengers does not exceed one million per year. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)
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مهدي خلجي (راديوفردا): امروز روز جهاني آزاد مطبوعات است. روزي كه بهانه اي بود تا انجمن دفاع از آزادي مطبوعات، گزارش سالانه خود را در باره وضعيت آزادي مطبوعات در ايران منتشر كند. چنانكه ماشاءالله شمس الواعظين سخنگوي اين انجمن در مراسمي كه به همين مناسبت برگذار شد، گفته است، آمار اين انجمن در گزارش سالانه، متکي به منابع داخلي است.
در گزارشي، راديوفردا به اين آمار نگاهي دارد و به ديگر اظهارنظرهائي که در محافل ايراني در اين باره شده است.
کيوان حسيني (راديوفردا): سيصدوچهل و پنج مورد نقض آشکار قانون مطبوعات، مرگ يک روزنامهنگار به نام خانم زهرا کاظمي در اثر شکنجه در زندان، 35 مورد توقيف موقت روزنامههاي داخلي، 74 مورد محاکمه روزنامهنگاران در انتظار صدور حکم، ده مورد ضرب و شتم روزنامهنگاران توسط مامورين انتظامي، 110 مورد تفهيم اتهام به روزنامهنگاران، 6 مورد محروميت از حق فعاليت مطبوعاتي، 16 روزنامهنگار در زندان، 178 مورد سايت اينترنتي فيلترگذاريشده، 32 مورد روزنامهنگاراني که در حين بازجوئي بازداشت شدهاند، و يک ميليارد و 433 ميليون تومان وثيقه براي آزادي روزنامهنگاران در يک سال اخير.
اين آماري است که انجمن دفاع از آزادي مطبوعات در گزارش سالانه خود منتشر ساخت و ماشاءالله شمسالواعظين، آن را نشانه واضحي از نقض حقوق روزنامهنگاران دانست. اين همه درحالي است که قاضي اسلامي، آبانماه گذشته اعلام کرده بود که 500 محاکمه مطبوعاتي در راه است.
آقاي شمسالواعظين، که تا امروز چهار روزنامه او نيز توقيف شدهاند، خطاب به مسئولان نظام سياسي ايران پرسيد که کداميک از اقشار و اصناف اجتماعي در طول يک سال گذشته با اين همه محدوديت و سرکوب روبرو بودهاست؟
اما در اين مراسم، علي مزروعي، رئيس انجمن صنفي روزنامهنگاران نيز ضمن يادآوري نام روزنامهنگاراني چون اکبر گنجي، عباس عبدي، انصافعلي هدايت، ناصر زرافشان و هدي صابر، که هم اکنون در زندان به سر ميبرند، بزرگترين ضربه به روزنامهنگاران را حاکم شدن جو خودسانسوري دانست. وي تاکيد کرد که تنها روزنامههائي توانستهاند سابقه مطبوعاتي خود را حفظ کنند که با حاکميت در ارتباط بودند و موضع حکومت را تبليغ ميکردند. وي با استناد به گزارشهاي بينالمللي ايران را زندان روزنامهنگاران ناميد.
همچنين، محسن ترکاشوند، عضو کميسيون امنيت ملي مجلس، در مصاحبه با خبرگزاري کارايران، ايلنا، به مستندات قانوني اشاره کرد و گفت بايد به درستي مشخص شود که مطبوعات تا چه حد آزادند، چرا که ما شاهد بوديم که طي مدت يک سال صد و اندي نشريه تعطيل شد و کار در اين عرصه بر اصحاب قلم بسيار سخت و دشوار شد.
اين نماينده مجلس با تاکيد بر اينکه باور قدرت مردم در جمهوري اسلامي نهادينه نشده، از آماري سخن گفت که نمايانگر رتبه اول ايران از نظر تعداد روزنامهنگاران زنداني در خاورميانه است. عليرغم همه اين اظهارنظرها، کامبيز نوروزي، حقوقدان، که وکالت روزنامهنگاران بسياري را در دادگاههاي جمهوري اسلامي بر عهده داشته، در مصاحبهاي با «ايسنا» (خبرگزاري دانشجويان ايران)، از روند توسعه مطبوعات در ايران اظهار رضايت کردو با تاکيد بر اينکه اين روند متوقف نشده است، برخورد قضائي و امنيتي با روزنامهنگاران را عامل مهمي براي توقف اين روند ندانست و افزود اين پديده نميتواند بر فرآيند توسعه مطبوعات در ايران تاثيرات خيلي منفياي داشته باشد.
م.خ.: ايران، زندان روزنامهنگاران، امروز روز آزادي مطبوعات بود. گزارش کيوان حسيني را ميشنيديد. انجمن دفاع از آزادي مطبوعات در گزارشي كه براساس منابع داخلي منتشر ساخت، آمار و ارقام زير را عرضه كرد از تعرض به مطبوعات در سال گذشته: سيصدوچهل و پنج مورد نقض آشکار قانون مطبوعات، مرگ يک روزنامهنگار به نام خانم زهرا کاظمي در اثر شکنجه در زندان، 35 مورد توقيف موقت روزنامههاي داخلي، 74 مورد محاکمه روزنامهنگاران در انتظار صدور حکم، ده مورد ضرب و شتم روزنامهنگاران توسط مامورين انتظامي، 110 مورد تفهيم اتهام به روزنامهنگاران، 6 مورد محروميت از حق فعاليت مطبوعاتي، 16 روزنامهنگار در زندان، 178 مورد سايت اينترنتي فيلترگذاريشده، 32 مورد روزنامهنگاراني که در حين بازجوئي بازداشت شدهاند، و يک ميليارد و 433 ميليون تومان وثيقه براي آزادي روزنامهنگاران در يک سال اخير.
