Sunday, January 27, 2013

Iran Security Forces Raid Independent Newspapers


In concerted attacks on independent press, Iran’s security forces on Sunday raided offices of five newspapers in Tehran and arrested at least nine journalists. The attacks came within a day after the authorities suspended the popular news site Tabnak and also arrested the political editor of the news agency ILNA.

The five newspapers whose offices were raided today are Etemad, Bahar, Sharq, Aseman and Arman. (In the photo, Sharq and Etemad are seen in the middle row).

The journalists arrested are Javad Daliri, Sasan Aghaie, Nasrin Takhiri, Motahareh Shafie, Nargues Jodaki, Emilie Emraie, Pouria Alami, Pejman Mousavi and Saba Azar-Peyk.

Tabnak is a conservative news site published by former IRGC commander and presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaie. The site has kept its independence from the hardline orthodoxy of pro-regime press.

ILNA is a semi-official news agency known for its independent reporting. Its political editor Milad Fadaie Asr was arrested on Saturday on the street by security agents and was transferred to the notorious Evin prison.

Note: The raid on independent press comes as top issues in the upcoming presidential election are getting wide coverage in the press. The authorities seem to want to eliminate all those voices and keep the likes of right-wing Kayhan and Fars News Agency to “cover” the June presidential election and the economic, political and security issues facing the country.   

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Free election is for them a foreign conspiracy (lol); what escapes them is - of course - that they themselves are the foreign conspiracy; look at their results; an enemy of Iran would be very happy with them ...

Anonymous said...

The main enemy of the Islamic regime is the people of Iran.Therefore they war against the people of Iran.

Anonymous said...

Didn't that hendi zadeh say that there will be free press in Iran?

Anonymous said...

on behalf of Mark, I would like to say that Winston Churchill and the Leveritts were consulted and approved stamping out any vestiges of press freedom in Iran.

A poll conducted found that 73% of Iranian citizens being tortured in prison named a free press as undesirable and helping to undermine national order and the will of the holy Iranian dictatorship.

Nader Uskowi said...

The past 48 hours were some of the most depressing moments for Iranian journalism. The concerted attack on the independent press reminds us that notwithstanding the rosy talks by the regime apologists, including their comments posted on this blog, how low this regime has sunk. One of the first actions any regime takes before all-out cheating in a crucial election is to kill the independent press. No amount of sweet talk by regime apologists could hide the ugly face and dictatorial tendencies of the people in power for now.

Mark Pyruz said...

Were the offices and journalists attacked? Or were warrants being served and journalists detained? There's a difference.

I realize I'm the only one on the blog staff with actual previous experience as a journalist, so I must point out that such clarity is important.

It's unfortunate the newspapers were closed and journalists detained. Here in the United States, there are historical examples of such taking place at times where national security was in peril or perceived in peril. The most famous example was arried out by orders from President Lincoln. In my lifetime, there were examples during the so-called "Red Scare" and Viet Nam war.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, a few years ago we had a journalist arrested for refusing court orders and "withholding evidence". He spent many months in prison.

If we're sincere with our desire to improve the lives of ordinary Iranians inside Iran (and pursue genuine American interests, at the same time), then peace and rapprochement with the Islamic Republic of Iran is the best way forward. Otherwise, we're looking at the prospect of another debacle like the Iraq War with terrible human cassualties for the affected Middle Eastern country, this time being Iran.

Anonymous said...

slimy. when a dictator controls the judiciary and the courts have no independence, only slimy things pretend that there is fair process of law.

you sink ever lower into the mud and try to claim that being a "journalist" means you have some standing...or spine.

Anonymous said...

Is Mohsen Rezaei an enemy of the state in Iran? How is it possible for him to run in the elections? How did he pass the qualifications to become a candidate? How does the suppression of his News Agency affect his chances of winning in the upcoming Presidential election? Or is it the case that he has since realigned and readjusted his ideas and opinions to suit his former political adversaries? Could he have mended ties with the hardline orthodoxical factions?

Anonymous said...

Revolution eats their own children...