Qom, May 1, IRNA -- A court in this religious city in central Iran
has sentenced the editor of a local weekly to four months in jail
and banned him from press activities for six months, but it has
suspended the execution of the punishments for two years.
Hojjat Heydari, the managing editor of the weekly Payam-e Qom
(Message of Qom), has been indicted by the court on charge of
publishing "untrue reports and insulting public opinion and
revolutionary values," according to a ruling, a copy of which was
made available to IRNA.
The plaintiff in the case is the Justice Department of Qom
province which has cited the weekly's reports on alleged usury and
corruption in the city as amounting to "spread of corruption in a city
whose residents are committed to religious tenets and banishing
vices."
Heydari, in an interview with IRNA, rejected all the charges,
saying he will appeal the ruling.
The judge in the case has exonerated the suspect from the charge
of instigating public opinion, brought by the provincial office of the
Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps.
The court has further commuted the punishment by suspending it,
taking into account the defendant's "social situation as well as the
circumstances in which he has committed the offense."
A Tehran court on Tuesday interrogated several suspects in
connection with an article which is deemed blaspheming Prophet
Mohammad (peace be upon him).
Those questioned were Tuka Maleki, Mohsen Shahrnaz-Dareh, female
journalist Banafsheh Saam-Guiss and Massoud Kazari, all implicated
in the publication of a supplementary book review which appeared in
the Persian daily Iran several days ago.
The article, written by Saam-Guiss, reviewed a book by Maleki on
women music which Kazari had published. They expressed regret and
repentance at the court over the published material, which they
accepted, to be false.
Other suspects in the case are editors of the daily Iran,
including its manager Abdur-Rasul Vesal who was questioned by the
court on Monday and Tuesday.
Tehran court interrogates publishers of "blasphemous" article
Tehran, April 30, IRNA -- A court here on Tuesday interrogated
several suspects in connection with an article which is deemed
blaspheming Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).
Those questioned were Tuka Maleki, Mohsen Shahrnaz-Dareh, female
journalist Banafsheh Saam-Guiss and Massoud Kazari, all implicated
in the publication of a supplementary book review which appeared in
the Persian daily Iran several days ago.
The article, written by Saam-Guiss, reviewed a book by Maleki on
women music which Kazari had published. They expressed regret and
repentance at the court over the published material, which they
accepted, to be false.
Other suspects in the case are the editors of the daily Iran,
including its manager Abdur-Rasul Vesal who was questioned by the
court on Monday and Tuesday.
Further questioning by Judge Saeed Mortazavi at the Bench 1410
of the Tehran administrative court was adjourned to Wednesday.
A group of seminary students in the religious city of Qom in
central Iran marched through streets Friday evening in protest against
the article.
