Reporters Without Borders condemned Iran’s harshness against Kurdish journalists
17:45 - 1 September 2018
Kurdistan Press Agency (Kurdpa): In statement, Reporters Without Borders condemned the Islamic Republic of Iran’s latest steps against Iranian journalist, including two Kurdish journalists.
In statement issued on August 30, Reporters Without Borders criticized a summons received by Ejlal Qawami, a Kurdish journalist, from Sna (Sanandaj) and a harsh sentence received by Shoja Hoseinzadeh, a Kurdish, social media activist.
“The latest crackdown’s targets also include Ejlal Ghavami, an independent journalist and human rights defender in Sanandaj, in the northwestern province of Kurdistan, who has been accused of “publishing false information designed to upset public opinion” by posting three articles on social networks about prisoners of conscience in Kurdistan province.
After being summoned by the Sanandaj prosecutor’s office on 20 August, he was freed on bail of 20 million toman. No date has so far been set for his trial,” the statement reads.
Related to the case of Shoja Hossein Zadeh, the organization’s statement reads: “Shoja Hossein Zadeh, a citizen-journalist in Baneh, another city in Kurdistan province, was meanwhile sentenced to 74 lashes by a local criminal court in July on a charge of insulting President Hassan Rouhani in a satirical article accusing him of not keeping his election promises. Zadeh ran the Baneh News channel on the Telegram messaging service.”
In a brief interview with Kurdistan Press Agency, Hoseinzadeh confirmed the news and said: “I was accused of insulting the president due to publishing a cartoon, in a period of filtering the telegram, in which Hasan Rouhani, Iranian president had its (famous) key in the hand turned to a wrong direction”.
“The judicial organization found me guilty of assaulting the president”, he added.
In statement issued on August 30, Reporters Without Borders criticized a summons received by Ejlal Qawami, a Kurdish journalist, from Sna (Sanandaj) and a harsh sentence received by Shoja Hoseinzadeh, a Kurdish, social media activist.
“The latest crackdown’s targets also include Ejlal Ghavami, an independent journalist and human rights defender in Sanandaj, in the northwestern province of Kurdistan, who has been accused of “publishing false information designed to upset public opinion” by posting three articles on social networks about prisoners of conscience in Kurdistan province.
After being summoned by the Sanandaj prosecutor’s office on 20 August, he was freed on bail of 20 million toman. No date has so far been set for his trial,” the statement reads.
Related to the case of Shoja Hossein Zadeh, the organization’s statement reads: “Shoja Hossein Zadeh, a citizen-journalist in Baneh, another city in Kurdistan province, was meanwhile sentenced to 74 lashes by a local criminal court in July on a charge of insulting President Hassan Rouhani in a satirical article accusing him of not keeping his election promises. Zadeh ran the Baneh News channel on the Telegram messaging service.”
In a brief interview with Kurdistan Press Agency, Hoseinzadeh confirmed the news and said: “I was accused of insulting the president due to publishing a cartoon, in a period of filtering the telegram, in which Hasan Rouhani, Iranian president had its (famous) key in the hand turned to a wrong direction”.
“The judicial organization found me guilty of assaulting the president”, he added.
