Reformists under siege in Iran

Ulhas Joglekar ulhasj at bom4.vsnl.net.in
Sat Apr 29 19:20:33 PDT 2000


Saturday 29 April 2000

Reformists under siege in Iran TEHRAN: University students threw stones and burned tires during a brief riot in the capital in a sign of growing public anger at a hard-line crackdown that has shut down 16 reformist newspapers, hoping to choke the pro-democracy reforms of Iran's popular president. About 200 students at Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University took part in an overnight protest at the campus that turned violent in the early hours of Friday. The police and hard-line vigilantes moved in and dispersed the protesters after an hour of rioting, said a journalist, speaking on customary condition of not being named. He said some of the protesters were detained, but freed after a few hours. The hard-line crackdown on the media was triggered by their rout in the February legislative election, which sent a clear signal that the reforms of President Mohammad Khatami have gained nationwide popularity and acceptance. Without support from the press, reformist lawmakers and candidates might have to wait until Parliament resumes session on May 27 to restart direct dialogue with the people: the constitution mandates that Parliament debates be broadcast live on state radio. "The reformists are under siege. They are looking to the opening of the Majlis as the cavalry," said Saeed Laylaz, an analyst who used to write for the Azad daily before it was closed down Monday with a court order issued by the hard-line judiciary. After this week's crackdown, only one reformist newspaper, Bayan, remained on the stands because it has not been so outspoken as the others. Sixteen other newspapers were banned by the hard- line controlled judiciary, including the Mosharekat newspaper published by Khatami's brother Mohammad-Reza Khatami.(AP) For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
|Disclaimer|
For comments and feedback send Email © Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2000.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list