11/2/2009 Iran bans pro-reform business daily
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Iran bans pro-reform business daily
Mon Nov 2, 2009 8:29am EST
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian media body banned on Monday the
publication of a leading business daily, Sarmayeh, which is critical of the
economic policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadi nejad's government.
The official IRNA news agency said Iran's press supervisory body took the
decision because of”repeated violations of the press law.” It did not give
further details.
“Based on a decision by the press supervisory board ... the authorization for
the publication of Sarmayeh daily was annulled,” IRNA said.
Sarmayeh editor Saeed Laylaz, an outspoken government critic, was
arrested shortly after Iran's disputed election in June. The opposition says
the vote was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.
The authorities deny vote rigging, and have portrayed the huge street
protests that erupted after the election as a foreign-backed bid to undermine
the Islamic state.
In August, authorities shut down Etemad-e Melli newspaper of pro-reform
cleric Mehdi Karoubi, who came fourth in the poll. He had angered hardliners
with his allegation that some detained opposition supporters were raped, a
charge officials deny.
The June poll and its turbulent aftermath plunged Iran into its biggest internal
crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deepening divisions within
its ruling elite and also further straining relations with the West.
Iran arrested thousands of people after the vote, though most have since
been freed. About 200 people remain in jail, including Laylaz, on charges of
fomenting the post-vote unrest. The opposition has denounced their trials as
“show trials.”
(Writing by Fredrik DahI; editing by Matthew Jones)
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