IRANIAN JOURNALISTS ABROAD URGED KHAMENEH'I TO FREE MR. ZEYDABADI

ROME 29 Apr. (IPS)    The Association of Iranian Journalists Abroad (AIJA) denounced Monday the condemnation of journalist Ahmad Zeydabadi to 23 months imprisonment and urged the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i to order his "immediate and unconditional" release from jail.

Mr. Zeydabadi, an outspoken journalist close to the illegally banned Nationalist-religious groups was sentenced by the leader-appointed Judge Sa'id Mortazavi, nicknamed as "the butcher of the press", to 23 months in jail and banned from all social activities, including journalism, for five years, Tehran newspapers announced Monday.

According to the reports, press court Judge Mortazavi accused Mr. Zeydabadi of "propaganda against Iran's Islamic regime", undermining the competence of the leader and making provocative speeches which threatened national security.

Mr. Zeidabadi, who worked for the mass circulation daily Hamshahri, had been detained for seven months in 2000. He intends to appeal the sentence.

Sources said one of the many reasons behind the harsh sentence might be a recent article he wrote, criticising the leader's "palestinisation" of the Iranian foreign diplomacy and urging the authorities to stop backing Palestinian hard liners opposed to peace with Israel.

In a fax to the office of Mr. Khameneh'i, the Rome-based AIJA called on the authorities in the Islamic Republic against suppressing freedom of the press and urged them to allow all the banned publications to resume activities.

Ayatollah Khameneh'i, "awarded" by Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) the palm of the world's staunchest enemy of the freedom of the press, ordered two years ago the "bundle closure" of over 50 publications, most of them supporting political, social, cultural and religious reforms. 

The  the Paris-based press watchdog protested against the sentencing of Mr. Zeidabadi and called on the head of the Iranian legal system, Ayatollah Mahmood Hashemi-Shahroodi, to cancel the "very harsh" punishment.

"The conservatives who control the judiciary are taking advantage of the UN Human Rights Commission's recent failure to condemn Iran to resume their attacks on journalists and the media" RSF's Secretary General Robert Ménard said.

Despite the release of eight journalists since the beginning of this year, 12 are still imprisoned in Iran. At least five more are free on bail waiting for the result of their trials, the organisation noted.

"In recent articles, Mr. Zeyda badi has defended Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and condemned suicide bombings, a line which differs from the Iranian government's position", RSF said, adding that he plans to appeal against the sentence.

The outspoken Zeidabadi was arrested at his home on 7 August 2000 by a dozen plainclothes officials because of what they said was his refusal to appear before a court. He was freed on heavy bail on 8 March 2001.

Said Afsar, a journalist with the government daily Iran, went on trial before the Teheran court on 28 April for "insulting Islam" in three articles he had written about the religion. During the trial, he said that as a Muslim, he would never insult Islam. The verdict will be announced later. ENDS ZEYDABADI CONDEMNED 29402