November 01-2013
The daily Bahar, one of the few Reformist newspapers left in the country, was shut down Monday, but this closing was over a religious article not a political one.
Bahar has been shut down multiple times in the past, but the offenses have been political ones.
“Based on the decision issued by the Press Supervisory Board, Bahar newspaper has been banned and its case has been referred to the Judiciary,” Mehr news agency quoted board chairman Alaeddin Zohourian as saying.
Last Wednesday’s issue of Bahar carried a feature article that expressed doubts that the Prophet Mohammad had appointed a successor. A core element of Shiism is that the Prophet named his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, to succeed him. So, the error was not on a minor theological point.
This was the first newspaper closing under the Rohani Administration, but the uproar over the article left the Press Supervisory Board little choice. Since 2000, when hardliners in the Judiciary began a campaign against the free press, more than 120 newspapers and magazines—mostly, but not all, Reformist—have been closed down, some permanently, others for periods of days to months.
Bahar issued an apology note last week, immediately after the offending article appeared, and it even closed itself for one day as an apologia.
It said publishing the offensive article was an “unintentional mistake.”
Bahar said, “The article which has sadly hurt the feelings of believers was published due to a technical error…. The Editorial Board has apologized several times and criticized the article to show it was contrary to Bahar’s [policy] line,” it said.
Culture Minister Ali Jannati also condemned Bahar for “fomenting religious conflicts” with the article. Actually, the article didn’t foment conflict since there was no conflict; there was universal condemnation of the article.
A leading reformist, Mohammad-Reza Aref, was among the multitude criticizing the article. “Reformist media should act wisely and should not give an excuse to rivals who seek to undermine the reformist camp,” he said.
