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Alert

Political cartoonists organise an appeal for the release of an Iranian colleague

**Updates IFEX alert of 7 February 2000**

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF press release:

Wednesday 9 February: for immediate release

Political cartoonists organise an appeal for the release of an Iranian colleague

Further to the Saturday 5 February arrest of Iranian political cartoonist Nik Ahang-Kosar, Reporters sans frontières is launching a call to all political cartoonists to support the cartoonist. A number of well-known political cartoonists in France have already decided to participate in this initiative, including Brito, Cambon, Jacques Faizant, Hours, Jiho, Kerleroux, Nono, Piem, Trez, Wiaz, etc. Their drawings will be featured on Reporters sans frontières' Internet site (www.rsf.fr).


Nik Ahang-Kosar is a political cartoonist with the reformist daily Azad. On 5 February, he was called before Teheran's Press Court and placed in provisional detention. The court's presiding judge criticised him for publishing two caricatures deemed "insulting" to Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi. The ayatollah is known for his harsh views concerning reformers and secular liberals. He recently expressed the view that the reformist press is financed by the CIA. Nik Ahang-Kosar, about thirty years old, could be sentenced to between one month and one year in prison and receive seventy-four lashes.

Since 1 January 1999, fifteen journalists have been arrested and eight newspapers have been closed in Iran. Four journalists are currently imprisoned.