Media News - Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Iran charges journalists with ‘lying’

The fourth session of the mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, including journalists, took place in Tehran on Wednesday. The trial is only open to state-owned media. In the aftermath of the country's disputed 12 June presidential election, Iranian authorities have expelled foreign journalists or severely limited their ability to report independently. They have also arrested dozens of journalists, a number of whom are facing various criminal charges. In a Revolutionary Court in Tehran, about 20 people, including journalists, politicians, and academics, were facing charges of misusing "the supporters of defeated candidates to launch a soft coup d'état," Agence France-Presse quoted a state broadcaster as saying. The defendants, who were described by the court as "a power-seeking defiant movement" that has "stood against the system and the majority vote of the people," were charged with "lying" and spreading "rumors of fraud in the election," Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported. The journalists' lawyers have been denied access to their clients in prison, and police chief Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam recently admitted that detainees had been tortured while in custody. Iran remains the world's leading jailer of journalists with at least 36 behind bars. (CPJ)

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