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01-08-2005, 07:06 AM
Reporters Without Borders condemns treatment of cyberjournalists and bloggers
08.01.05
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the mistreatment in prison of cyberdissidents and webloggers after an Iranian committee report concluded that public confessions by two of them were obtained under duress.
"We fear that the authorities are succeeding in purging the web of all critical content through brutality, intimidation and censorship," the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
"In a country in which weblogs and news sites have flourished in the past few years such a setback would be a catastrophe for freedom of expression."
Confirmation that Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi were mistreated after their arrests last November, along with a group of other online journalists, was given on January 4 in a report from the Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of the Constitution, on which both conservatives and reformists sit.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is particularly concerned about police threats against Omid Memarian, Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi and Shahram Rafihzadeh, and pointed out that weblogger Mojtaba Saminejad, along with online journalist, Javad Gholam Tamayomi, are still in prison.
Reformist leader Ali Abtahi, a former vice-president of Iran, said that the monitoring committee, of which he is a member, had carried out an investigation into mistreatment in prison of journalists in the 'Internet cases'.
"We took evidence from these journalists who have told us that they have suffered torture in prison", he said. The report was handed over to President Mohammad Khatami. The monitoring committee is a consultative body that has no legal authority.
Ali Abtahi said on his weblog (www.webneveshteha.com (http://www.webneveshteha.com/)) that the testimony of Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi "made committee members weep".
More on this Story (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=9005867)
08.01.05
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the mistreatment in prison of cyberdissidents and webloggers after an Iranian committee report concluded that public confessions by two of them were obtained under duress.
"We fear that the authorities are succeeding in purging the web of all critical content through brutality, intimidation and censorship," the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
"In a country in which weblogs and news sites have flourished in the past few years such a setback would be a catastrophe for freedom of expression."
Confirmation that Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi were mistreated after their arrests last November, along with a group of other online journalists, was given on January 4 in a report from the Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of the Constitution, on which both conservatives and reformists sit.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is particularly concerned about police threats against Omid Memarian, Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi and Shahram Rafihzadeh, and pointed out that weblogger Mojtaba Saminejad, along with online journalist, Javad Gholam Tamayomi, are still in prison.
Reformist leader Ali Abtahi, a former vice-president of Iran, said that the monitoring committee, of which he is a member, had carried out an investigation into mistreatment in prison of journalists in the 'Internet cases'.
"We took evidence from these journalists who have told us that they have suffered torture in prison", he said. The report was handed over to President Mohammad Khatami. The monitoring committee is a consultative body that has no legal authority.
Ali Abtahi said on his weblog (www.webneveshteha.com (http://www.webneveshteha.com/)) that the testimony of Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi "made committee members weep".
More on this Story (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=9005867)