Source: Rooz (http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2009/may/19//winning-the-presidential-race-by-containing-competitors.html)

19 May 2009

In a letter to President Ahmadinejad, the managing editor of Yas newspaper two days ago called the ban on the newspaper illegal and a political act with the purpose of affecting the forthcoming presidential elections in June 12, 2009.

At the same time, the reformist presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Mousavi also reacted to the closure of Yas by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Tehran’s Prosecutor’s Office and said, “The closure of newspapers on the eve of the elections is very meaningful and proves that we must remain alert and on the scene.”

In his protesting letter, Naimipour, the manager of the daily, wrote that the decision and act of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance was “illegal” and “opportunistic on behalf of the office that engaged in carrying it out and the political coordination in this regard was with the purpose of disrupting the healthy electoral competition.”

Naimipour further wrote that, “the action of the press deputy at the Ministry of Guidance and that of the chairman of the Press Supervision Board of the ministry which lacked any signs that it was based on a decision or resolution of the supervisory board but is a blatant misuse of the professional position and a political coordination for the purpose of disrupting the healthy elections activities of the country.” In another part of the letter Naimipour went even further and wrote that this measure could not have been taken without the coordination with the Minister of Islamic Guidance of the ninth administration.

In still another part of the protest, while stressing the critical approach of this publication in the current conditions facing the country, the ninth administration, and its support of the reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the manager of this newspaper also said that this closure laid ‘an unforgivable precedence” in this regard. Finally, he said in the letter that the closure of Yas demonstrated the concerns that existed among those that supported Ahmadinejad for presidency, and complained, addressing the incumbent president, that his “administration did not tolerate criticism and political competition, and in fact, by creating growing obstacles for election candidates, was acting as if to facilitate the repetition of events that took place during his presidency.”

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Source: Rooz (http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2009/may/19//yase-no-banned.html)

19 May 2009

The “Yase No” daily was banned again after publishing its first issue following the passage of its initial suspension period. As such, the Participation Front (Hezbe Mosharekat), which owned the largest share of power in the sixth Majlis and the reformist administration, was given the right to operate a newspaper for only one day under Ahmadinejad.

The reason for the renewed ban on this newspaper lies in such a request by the prosecutor of Tehran’s court and that of the Revolutionary court presided by Saeed Mortezavi to reexamine the Yase No case.

According to Nowruz website which is the Participation Front’s lone outlet, following a May 16 request by Saeed Mortazavi to the Ministry of Culture requesting the extension of Yase No’s ban, the ministry’s deputy in press affairs, Malekian, wrote a letter to Yase No’s managing editor, Mohammad Naimipour, asking him to stop the newspaper’s publication.

Yase No daily begun its new round of publication on Saturday, May 16, after about 5 years and 3 months following its initial suspension, on February 19, 2004.

The daily’s manager Mohammad Naeemipour, and its attorney Saleh Nikbakht, had been persistently following up with the court during the past five years to get a trial date. Towards the end of last year, Yase No’s trial was held and Naimipour was ordered to pay monetary fines.

The paper’s attorney, Saleh Nikbakht, noted in the only issue published in the new round, that the court had issued no other orders or punishments following the verdict, and that, according to Article 44 of the revised press law, the paper’s publication was actually permited.

Article 44 of the revised press law states, “If a court orders acquittal or other fines that do not involve the stripping of social rights, a publication that has been previously suspended would be immediately reversed and the publication permitted.”

Reformist Website Does Not Have Right to Newspaper

With the initial publication and then immediate re-ban of Yase No, the reformist Participation Front had thus acquired the right to publish a newspaper for only one day under the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency.

The lone issue of Yase No discussed Khatami and Mousavi’s recent coalition. It published front-page photographs of former president Mohammad Khatami and presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi with the headline, “Khatami-Mousavi for Iran.”

The first ever issue of Yase No was published on February 22, 2003, but the paper was banned after close to one year on February 19, 2004, precisely on the event of the seventh Majlis elections.

Two years ago, Participation Front applied for a permit to publish a newspaper called “Iranian.” So far, the Ahmadinejad administration has refused to issue a permit for it.

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