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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