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Iran clamps down on press, TV
Published on Wed, Aug 23, 2006 at 16:33 in World section
Tags: Iran, President Ahmadinejad , Tehran
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Tehran: Iran's reform-minded press had been rather quiet since the election of President Mahmoud Admadinejad in June 2005.
At first, most outlets avoided criticising the hardliner and jabbed him only occasionally, while pro-Ahmadinejad news agencies and newspapers dominated the press landscape.
Last week, however, the government launched a campaign to clamp down on press criticism following allegations of government embezzlement.
Government spokesperson Gholamhossein Elham sent a letter to the public prosecutor urging him to act whenever accusations were published without proof.
"We don't object to criticism in the press, but a line must be drawn between criticism and baseless accusations," Elham said, adding that from now on the public prosecutor would be the judge.
"That is exactly the problem: Who's to say where the line starts and where it ends?" asked an Iranian female journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity. "A public prosecutor who's not familiar with journalism, and who's also close to the government, is definitely not the right person."
The distinction between criticism and baseless accusations – or even threats to national security – was also fuzzy during the presidency of Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor, Mohammad Khatami.
Several attempts to pass a law clearing up the confusion were stalled by major disagreements among Iran's parliamentary factions. Some journalists paid for the ambiguity with imprisonment.
A court made up of a press jury is now to decide such cases.
"The question, however, is who chooses members of the jury," said a lawyer. Ahmadinejad's presidency has not led to mass closures of newspapers as was first feared.
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