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Imprisoned Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji goes on
hunger strike
Journalist Akbar Ganji announced yesterday in a
statement issued through his lawyer, Youssef Molai,
that he has begun "an unlimited hunger strike" to
protest against his imprisonment, the Iranian
Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.
Reporters Without Borders reacted by warning the
Iranian authorities that they will held responsible
for any deterioration in his already poor state of
health.
"It is insane that a hunger strike is the only
recourse for imprisoned journalists who are trying
to obtain their rights as detainees, including the
right to make phone calls or to be let out of the
prison for short periods," the press freedom
organization said. "Ganji's case is serious because
he has not even been able to have the treatment
which is required by his condition and which has
been recommended by his doctors."
Ganji said in his statement : "I protest against my
illegal and unjust imprisonment, all the more so
because I cannot even pursue my treatment outside
Evin prison. I am beginning an unlimited hunger
strike this evening. No one should be imprisoned -
not even for a second - for expressing an opinion."
22.04.2005 - Akbar Ganji is seriously ill after five
years in prison
Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, who completes his
fifth year in Tehran's Evin prison tomorrow, is
seriously ill and should be granted an immediate and
unconditional release, Reporters Without Borders
said today.
"Ganji is one of Iran's leading journalists and, at
the same time, the one who has been imprisoned for
the longest period," the press freedom organization
said. "We call on the judicial authorities to stop
ignoring the prison doctors, who have been saying
for three years that he needs to be let out of
prison for treatment. His condition requires
immediate hospitalization and the Iranian
authorities will be held responsible for their
criminal attitude."
Reporters Without Borders added : "Ganji was
imprisoned five years ago and is being denied his
rights as a prisoner now because he criticised the
impunity prevailing in Iran in his articles and
because he participated in the pro-reform debate."
Ganji, who worked on the daily paper Sobh-e-Emrooz,
was arrested on 22 April 2000 after appearing before
the press court accused of writing that leading
figures, including former President Hashemi
Rafsanjani and former intelligence minister Ali
Fallahian, had been involved in the murder of
opponents and intellectuals in late 1998. He was
also accused of taking part in a conference in
Berlin about reform in Iran which the government
charged was "anti-Islamic."
He was sentenced on 13 January 2001 to 10 years in
prison but the appeal court reduced this to six
months on 15 May 2001. However on 15 July 2001, the
supreme court quashed the May sentence on technical
grounds and imposed a six-year jail sentence.
He is being held in solitary confinement and, unlike
other political prisoners, is not allowed to phone
his wife, and is rarely allowed to leave the prison,
although the law permits this. In the course of his
five years in prison, he has been allowed only 40
day-passes, most of them for medical appointments.
Hospital doctors have recommended that he be
hospitalized for back problems and asthma, which has
got worse because of his prison conditions, but the
judicial authorities continue to block this. His
lawyer, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Edabi, has
voiced great concern about his state of health.
The repression meanwhile continues in Iran. Several
journalists were summoned for questioning in March
by different judicial and security authorities.
Kivan Samimi, the editor of the monthly Nameh, was
summoned on 30 March by a Tehran court. Mohamad
Javad Roh of the daily newspaper Shargh was summoned
several times and was threatened over his articles
about the elections.
A human rights organization recently formed by
journalists in the western province of Kurdistan has
reported a major crackdown on the press there and
said 14 journalists were summoned by courts in the
city of Sanandaj.
Those who were summoned are Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand,
Ejlal Ghavami, Tonya Kabovand, Namo Hedayati, Yosef
Azizi, Kaveh Hosinpanahi, Jahangir Hashemi, Jamshid
Vaziri, Hasan Amini and Majid Mohamadi of the weekly
Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan, Roya Tolou, the editor
of the weekly Resan, Abdolah Sohrabi, the publisher
of the weekly Rouj Halat, and Saman Solimani, its
editor, and Hossin Ahmadinyazi, the editor or the
weekly Asoo.
They have all been accused of "publishing false news
and publicity against the regime" and "attacking
national security."
Over 15 years ago, Reporters without Borders created
its "Sponsorship Programme" and called upon the
international media to select and support an
imprisoned journalist. More than two hundreds news
staffs around the globe are thus sponsoring
colleagues by regularly petitioning authorities for
their release and by publicising their situations so
that their cases will not be forgotten. Currently,
Akbar Ganji is sponsored by Le Devoir, Nice-Matin,
La Montagne
www.payvand.com
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