November 15-2013
The publisher of the reformist newspaper Bahar, which was closed last week for publishing an article offensive to Shiism, and the writer of the offensive article have both been arrested.
Saeed Pourazizi of the daily Bahar (Spring) was summoned to the prosecutor’s office November 2, arrested there and transferred to Evin prison, his wife, Masumeh Shahriari, told the Fars news agency.
She said the public prosecutor “lodged a complaint” against Pourazizi, presumably based on the article. Three days later, he was freed on bail of 2 billion rials ($67,000).
Then on Monday, Prosecutor-General Gholam-Hossain Mohseni-Ejai announced the arrest of Ali-Asghar Gharavi, the author of the article.
Immediately after the issue with the offending article appeared on the stands, the daily issued an apology, saying publishing the article was an “unintentional mistake.” Bahar temporarily suspended publication, saying it was doing so to “ease the tensions”.
Days later, the Press Supervisory Board shut Bahar down for the article, which expressed doubts that the Prophet Mohammad had appointed his son-in-law Ali as his successor, one of the foundations of Shiism.
Culture Minister Ali Jannati said the article “foments religious conflicts” and that the daily had received earlier warnings.
Judiciary Chairman Sadeq Larijani said the courts will “act with determination against those who falsify the history and try to undermine the fundamentals of the regime.”
Bahar and some other reformist dailies, notably Sharq, only resumed publication late last winter after bans, some of which lasted several years. The regime presumably allowed them to resume publication in an effort to make a bow to freedom of expression in the lead-up to the June presidential elections.
Bahar is the first newspaper to be banned since Hassan Rohani was elected president.
A key question is whether Bahar’s publication of the article will eventually be punished as criminal activity or neglectful action.
The slow action against the daily suggests some in authority have been reluctant to treat the article as a criminal act and may be under pressure from clerical hardliners. The offensive article was published October 23. The Press Supervisory Board did not close the paper until five days later and the publisher was not arrested until 10 days after the article appeared and the author until 19 days after publication.
