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| Iran |
| Inquiry after journalist dies in Iran |
| 2003-07-14 |
| The Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, yesterday ordered an urgent investigation into the death of a Canadian photojournalist who died in custody after being arrested for taking photos of a notorious prison. Iranian officials said the freelance photographer Zahra Kazemi, 54, was arrested last month by guards at Evin prison in Tehran and, after reporting discomfort, died of a brain haemorrhage on Saturday. Being hit in the head will do that. "You should determine the reasons for her sudden death and who is responsible for it," Mr Khatami said in a statement calling on four cabinet ministers to review the case. In ordering the inquiry, Mr Khatami indicated the possibility of wrongdoing. "If in combating irregularity something illegal happened, the violators should be strictly dealt with," he said. Looking for a scapegoat. Ms Kazemi held Canadian and Iranian passports and was arrested for violating a ban on photographing or filming Evin prison, which holds dissidents, student activists and journalists who have criticised the country’s clerical leadership. The Canadian foreign affairs minister, Bill Graham, told the Canadian ambassador in Tehran to press for the immediate return of Ms Kazemi’s remains and for a full account of the circumstances of her death, a spokesman in Ottawa said. Ms Kazemi’s son, Stephen Hachemi, told reporters in Montreal that he wanted his mother’s body returned. "That is all that is important at this point," he said. Canadian forensic examiners are some of the worlds best. They will be able to tell what happened. The Canadian chapter of Reporters Sans FrontiÚres said the account offered by the Iranian authorities was inadequate and urged an independent investigation. The head of the foreign press department of the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, Mohammed Hossein Khoshvaght, said the Canadian journalist had presented an Iranian passport when seeking her press accreditation and "was dealt with like an Iranian citizen". Oops, bad turn of phrase there, Mohammed. Truthful, but bad. Iranian reporters can face imprisonment and interrogation if their coverage is deemed too critical. Or they just disappear. In this case they didn’t know she was Canadian and would be missed. Ms Kazemi’s death came as hardline clergy closed another newspaper yesterday and arrested two more journalists and student activists as part of a intensifying crackdown on dissent following pro-democracy protests last month. The reformist daily Hambastegi was closed for violating the press law by failing to publish the name of the editor-in-chief, a journalist at the newspaper said. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Step one - Kill journalist. Friends and relatives in Canada say Kazemi was beaten into a coma. Her son told Reuters earlier in the week that Iranian doctors had diagnosed his mother as having a fractured skull. Step two - Get rid of the evidence. Family members and friends in Montreal insisted the body be returned to Canada so an autopsy could be carried out. But a spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said Kazemi's mother -- who is in Iran -- had given permission for the body to be buried. "It has been reported by the family in Iran that the body will be buried today, July 13," he told Reuters. You don't suppose anyone in the Iranian government "suggested" to her mother that she be buried soon, do you? |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-7-14 1:33:25 PM |
| #2 I doubt the Cretin will even send them a stiff note of protest. Why should he care? |
| Posted by: Hodadenon 2003-7-14 1:09:45 PM |
| #1 Hey, Iranian journalist, as well as foreign journalist without borders, are not being dealt harshly. Freedom of the people to be informed is a hallmark of an Islamic government. The Candian photographer was probably on a drinking binge and had an accident. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-7-14 12:59:26 PM |