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Alert

Editor Mostafa Sabti given prison sentence; RSF warns of unfair trial for journalist Ensafali Hedayat

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed concern about the upcoming trial of freelance journalist Ensafali Hedayat, which has been postponed to 14 April 2004, and condemned the coercion used against him since his detention on 16 January. The organisation also protested the prison sentence for "defamation" handed down recently to Mostafa Sabti, editor of the weekly "Gorgan-e emrouz".

"The Iranian justice system, which jailed [Hedayat] for no reason, is now trying to fabricate evidence in his trial, which is becoming a farce. His lawyers have not even been able to see their client's file," RSF said. "The Hedayat case, which is not the only one of this nature, exposes the intelligence services' strategy of using every means possible to obtain a confession. The Iranian new year, which is beginning now, does not give any hope of a better future for press freedom in Iran, where 12 journalists are currently imprisoned," the organisation added.

Hedayat's trial has been postponed to 14 April at his lawyers' request. They have not been able to see their client's file. Hedayat is reportedly charged with "propaganda against the regime and insulting the Guide", "incitement to rebellion" and "attending counter-revolutionary meetings abroad".

In an open letter to President Mohammad Khatami that was published on various Persian-language news websites on 26 March, Hedayat spoke of the pressure he has faced. "I was accused of 'espionage' and imprisoned. Since then, intelligence agents have been trying to obtain a confession from me and information about all those who sent me messages online, as well as my family and my professional contacts," the journalist said.

Hedayat was arrested on 16 January, upon his return from Germany, by order of the Tabriz Revolutionary Court in northwestern Iran. He was previously arrested on 16 June 2003 at Tabriz University while covering student demonstrations (see IFEX alerts of 14 July, 24 and 19 June 2003). Accused of "inciting students to revolt", he spent more than 20 days in solitary confinement. After his release on 14 July, he wrote a letter to President Khatami in which he spoke out against his prison conditions and the security forces' use of torture against detainees.

On 19 March 2004, in an unrelated case, Sabti, editor of the weekly "Gorgan-e emrouz", was arrested on the orders of a court in Gorgan, northern Iran. He was sentenced to three months in prison with no parole and received an additional four-month suspended sentence for publishing an open letter in which residents of a Gorgan neighbourhood protested the takeover of a park. Judicial authorities, who were involved in the matter, filed a "defamation" complaint against Sabti.

Iran is the Middle East's biggest prison for journalists, with 12 currently incarcerated.