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IRAN
PRESS SERVICES (IPS)
LAWYERS,
JOURNALIST, SENTENCES UPHELD
PARIS 6 Aug.
(IPS) The Association of Iranian Journalists Abroad (AIJA) condemned
Tuesday the Judiciary power of the Islamic Republic for upholding
a sentence passed on Mr. Mas'ood Behnood by an earlier court, calling
on the authorities to reverse the condemnation of the veteran journalist
"without condition".
An Appeals Court
confirmed Monday a 19-month jail for Mr. Behnood on charges of "actions
against the security of the state and insult to the leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khameneh'i", the governmental "Iran" newspaper
reported.
The fifty-two
years-old Mr. Behnood was freed on bail and came out of Iran in
May, alongside with Mr. Masha'ellah Shamsolva'ezin, an influential
journalist, for a series of conferences in several European cities,
including Berlin, Paris and London on issues of the reforms and
the press.
A spokesman
for the Judiciary that is controlled directly by the lamed Iranian
leader said Mr. Mas'ood would be arrested immediately on his return
to Iran and jailed.
Speaking from
Canada, where he is now, the journalist mocked the verdict, saying
that it was already confirmed months ago and brought to his information.
"The authorities
do not want us. They want force us to leave, as it is cheaper and
presents less headache for them. But I'm not going to bow to them
and will return to continue my activities as journalists",
he said, speaking on the telephone.
"The
sentence passed on Mr. Behnood is another shame for a regime like
the Islamic Republic and its leader, who is awarded as the world's
most dangerous enemy of the freedom of the press", the Rome-based
AIJA said in a fax to the office of Mr. Kameneh'i.
Mr. Behnood
was jailed from August 2000 until February 2001 during a massive
crackdown on the press and journalists. In December 2000, he appeared
in court on charges of "action against the security of the
state", "co-operation with foreign medias" and "insult
to supreme leader" Ayatollah Khameneh'i, on who's orders, the
Judiciary has closed more than 80 publications and jailed a dozen
of influential journalists sine April 1999.
The journalist
was also accused of "consuming alcohol" and "keeping
instruments for smoking opium", the conservative press reported
then.
The Iranian
Association for the Defense of Press Freedom, a reformist-run watchdog,
announced Sunday that 82 titles had been shut or suspended over
the past three years, leaving 1,800 journalists out of work.
"The mass
suspension of newspapers and publications risks leading to the departure
of journalists to foreign countries", association spokesman
Masha'llah Shamsolva'ezin told the official news agency IRNA.
Meanwhile the
Judiciary revoked work permits of six prominent lawyers, the press
reported Tuesday.
According to
the internet site "Emrooz" (Today), the six, all dissident
barristers and human rights activists, were in charge of the regime's
most controversial cases, such as the Chain Murders, the students
in the 9 July 1999 anti-regime uprising, the nationalist-religious
and the Iran Freedom Movement as well as the Berlin Conference.
They are
Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, condemned to 15 months of suspended jail and
five years of ban from professional activities, the same for Hojjatoleslam
Mohsen Rahami, Mohammad Seyfzadeh, condemned to four months of paid
jail and three years of ban, Abdolfattah Soltani, four moths of
paid jail and five years of ban, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, sentenced
to six months of paid jail and ten years of ban and Naser Zarafshan,
condemned to five years of jail and fifty lashes of the wipe.
"We are
all proud to have bravely defended our clients and not bowed to
pressures", Mr. Seyfzadeh told Emrooz, adding: "The authorities
do not like people like us and therefore, are doing their best to
have us out of circuits". ENDS BEHNOOD SENTENCED 6802
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