Another film magazine suspended

In a letter addressed to the head of the magistracy, Ayatollah Sharoudi, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF - Reporters Without Borders) protested against the suspension of monthly film magazine Gozarech-é-Film. "This is the second time in four days that a film magazine has been suspended", stated Robert Ménard, Secretary-General of the organisation. "We ask you to reconsider your decision", he added. According to information collected by RSF, the Iranian legal authorities suspended monthly film magazine Gozarech-é-Film on January 27 for having published "false articles" and "obscene photographs". A few months ago, the Chief Justice of Tehran, Abassali Alizadeh, publicly accused the publication's director, Karim Zargar, of being a "counter-revolutionary". Approximately a week ago, the Editor in Chief of the magazine, Nushabé Amiri, received telephone threats from the organization Amaken, close to Iranian intelligence. Gozarech-é-Film is the second magazine to be hit by a suspension imposed by the legal authorities in the space of four days. The film weekly Cinema Jahan was suspended on January 24, also after a complaint by Abassali Alizadeh. Judge Saïd Mortazavi brought an action against the director of the revue for "false publications disturbing public opinion and creating an atmosphere of tension and insecurity in the press", "publications going against proper conduct" and for "misrepresentation of women". Reporters Sans Frontières reiterates that Iran currently holds the dubious record of imprisoning the most journalists in the Middle East. Twenty journalists are behind bars. Most of them have still not been sentenced after several months in prison. According to the Deputy Minister for Culture and Islamic Guidance, over fifty newspapers (including twenty-four dailies) have been closed down since March 2000, not including student papers. Ali Khamenei, Guide of the Islamic Republic is one of the predators of press freedom worldwide listed by RSF.