[Mb-civic] FW: Iran parliament suspends reformist press law

[Golsorkhi]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Samii Shahla <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 16:09:58 -0400
Subject: Iran parliament suspends reformist press law

Iran parliament suspends reformist press law

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - ©2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, April 26 (IranMania) - Hardline deputies in Iran's parliament
have voted to suspend a law passed by their reformist predecessors that
was aimed at giving journalists fairer trials, it was announced Monday.

The law, pushed through by reformers in 2003, stipulated that
journalists in court for press-related offences should face a jury made
up of press union officials and representatives of other social groups.

Reformists had hoped that the law, which has never been fully
implemented, would give some protection to a press frequently targetted
by the hardline judiciary.

But according to parliament sources, more than two-thirds of deputies
in the Majlis -- held by right-wingers since May 2004 -- voted to
suspend the law for an initial one year period.

As an alternative, hardline deputies called for the jury make-up for
press-related offences to return to a previous arrangement -- where
jurors are named by a variety of regime officials.

Iran's often turbulent experiment with reforms -- which began in 1997
with the election of moderate President Mohammad Khatami -- has seen
major growth in the press sector and more overt criticism of the way
the Islamic republic is run.

But the hundreds of publications have also been shut down and scores of
journalists arrested or imprisoned in a major crackdown by the
judiciary, a bastion of Iran's religious right.
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http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?
NewsCode=31302&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

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