18 Jan 12 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Iran’s Supreme court has upheld the death sentence against a Canadian web designer. Saeed Malekpour was sentenced to death last January for “anti-government agitation and insulting Islam,” following his arrest in October 2008. He was accused of creating a site Iran claims was used to post “pornographic” images. Malekpour, whose sentence was upheld yesterday, was arrested whilst visiting his ailing father. The designer’s family confirmed the sentencing after the Revolutionary Guard pressured for him to be executed. Malekpour has reportedly been singled out for especially harsh treatment during his time at Evin Prison.
06 Jan 12 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, Index Reports, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Police in Iran have begun a heavy clampdown on internet freedom ahead of parliamentary elections in March, as tighter regulations on internet cafe use are introduced. Under the new rules, cafe owners will have to take the forename, surname, paternal name, national identification number, postcode and telephone number of each customer, along with the date and time of internet use and the addresses of sites visited. Newspaper reports have also suggested plans to launch a national internet network are underway, prompting fears that Iranian web users could be cut off from the World Wide Web.
05 Dec 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Foreign media have been banned from covering rallies in front of British diplomatic missions in Iran. The ban, which began on Thursday is the latest fallout following last week’s storming of Britain’s embassy in Tehran by pro-government demonstrators. Though Iran have previously banned foreign media from covering anti-government protests, this is the first time coverage of pro-government rallies has been banned.
02 Dec 11 | Uncategorized
After four months of deliberation, Ofcom has fined Press TV £100,000 for broadcasting its interview with the journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari in 2009. In October, Press TV was reporting that it was in danger of losing its licence, bizarrely blaming the threat on the royal family. Instead, just as the UK faces a crisis in its diplomatic relations with Iran, following the attack on the Tehran embassy this week, it receives a hefty fine. Considering the serious nature of its breach and the feverish circumstances, it seems a relatively mild punishment. The BBC was fined £150,000 after the Brand-Ross debacle.
The broadcaster faced sanctions following its broadcast while Maziar Bahari was being held in Evin Prison. Bahari had been detained for 118 days following the elections that summer, which he was reporting for Newsweek. He was held in solitary confinement, subjected to beatings and forced confessions, and accused of spying and threatened with the death penalty. Index on Censorship took part in an international campaign for his release.
The interview was filmed in prison, under extreme duress and without Maziar Bahari’s consent. Nor were the circumstances in which the interview was conducted made clear to viewers. In July, Ofcom judged Press TV’s conduct to be “serious and deliberate” breaches of its code, describing the broadcast as an “unwarranted infringement of Mr Bahari’s privacy”. The regulator observed that Press TV had failed to obtain Maziar Bahari’s consent “while he was in a sensitive situation and vulnerable state”.
“If this was just a personal issue I would not have bothered pursuing it,” Maziar Bahari told Index. “But it is something that happens to other people on a daily basis. I have friends who were arrested in Iran and they are forced to make televised confessions on different channels. Unfortunately we cannot lodge a complaint against other channels of the Iranian government, so that’s what motivated me to do it.”
Maziar Bahari had hoped that Ofcom would deprive Press TV of its licence to broadcast on Sky cable. However he believes that the fine, along with Ofcom’s demand that Press TV’s head office in Tehran, rather than London, should be in control of its licence to broadcast, will have a significant impact on its future in the UK.
“I think Press TV will be under a lot of pressure,” he said. “It will either be shut down or will have to modify its programmes.”
The Communications Act 2003 requires that a licence is held by the body that is in effective control of the TV service. While Ofcom was deliberating on sanctions, evidence came to light that it was the Tehran office that was in effective control of broadcasts rather than the London-based body that holds the Ofcom licence. Press TV now has 35 days to bring the service back into compliance by applying to transfer the licence to the correct body.
“Press TV always said ‘it’s not us, we’re just the programme makers’,” says Maziar Bahari. ‘This move denies them that excuse.”
