DATE=8/5/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAN - NEWSPAPER BAN (L)
NUMBER=2-252504
BYLINE=RICHARD ENGEL
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Iran's official news agency reports that
a court has ordered a leading newspaper of
Iranian reformists banned for five years.
Richard Engel in Cairo reports the newspaper's
publisher has been barred from working in the
media for three years.
TEXT: Analysts say the closure of the newspaper,
called Salam, is a major blow for Iran's moderate
President Mohammed Khatami and his policies of
reform.
During the past two years, Salam has been a key
mouthpiece of the reform movement. Analysts say
the newspaper's closure also may hurt moderate
candidates in parliamentary elections seven
months from now. The elections could determine
the future pace of President Khatami's reform
policies.
The Iranian news agency reports a special court
of clerics on Wednesday convicted Salam and its
publisher, Mohammed Musavi Khoiniha, of spreading
lies and distributing classified information.
At the center of the case was an article
published in Salam supposedly written by a former
security official that outlined a secret plan by
hard-liners to silence pro-reform newspapers.
Mr. Khoiniha was originally sentenced to a prison
term and a whipping. But his sentence was
changed to a 75-hundred dollar fine.
The banning of Salam and the removal of Mr.
Khoiniha had been widely predicted by analysts
and diplomats in Iran. The newspaper was ordered
shut on July 7th -- the same day Iran's hard-
line-dominated parliament passed a bill limiting
press freedom.
When Salam was banned in July, students staged
demonstrations which spread into nationwide
protests.
Since then, security in Tehran has been
increased. About 50-thousand paramilitary
reserves began a series of maneuvers in the
Iranian capital Wednesday that are apparently
aimed at demonstrating their skills at preventing
renewed social unrest. (Signed)
NEB/RHE/JWH
05-Aug-1999 07:06 AM EDT (05-Aug-1999 1106 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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