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| The headline of the Turkish-Persian weekly published in Urmia: "The Government Is Responsible for Linguicide in Iran." |
At a time when the international community calls for joint efforts to combat pressures on the press and ensure journalists’ safety on World Press Freedom Day, arrests and various pressures on journalists are escalating in Iranian Azerbaijan.
Recently, another journalist, Ismail Javadi, has faced trial. Mr. Javadi has not yet been presented with his sentence. He is accused of anti-regime propaganda and separatism. Ismail Javadi states that his writings were the reason for his arrest and that during the investigation, he faced ridiculous charges.
Ismail Javadi is not the only journalist facing threats due to his writings. Reza Abbasi, a writer for the Gündelik Mərdome No (New People) newspaper published in Zanjan, has been held in Zanjan prison for over eight months. Said Matinpour, another writer for the same newspaper, has also been arrested multiple times.
Another imprisoned writer is Ali Khodabakhshi, who wrote under the pseudonym Elyaz Yekanli for Sedaye Urmiya weekly in Urmia. Khodabakhshi, who was responsible for the Turkish-language pages of the publication, was arrested on the occasion of the 21 Azar Day and sentenced to one year in prison. He is currently being held in Urmia prison.
According to the Azerbaijani Political Prisoners Defense Committee (ASMEK), the Shams-e Tabriz newspaper, which was shut down approximately four years ago and has not received permission to publish again, has continued to operate solely on the internet or as supplements to other publications.
The editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Hamid Iman, and writers such as Hasan Ark, Hedayat Zakir, and Mohammad Reza Lavai have been arrested multiple times. After the May events, following the arrest of several writers, including Hamid Iman, the newspaper completely ceased publication.
Alongside Ismail Javadi, employees of the Fardaye Ma (Our Tomorrow) newspaper have also faced repeated threats due to their writings about political prisoners.
Other journalists from the newspaper, such as Asadollah Salimi and Rasul Jafari, have also been repeatedly arrested, detained in the Ettelaat (Intelligence) detention center, and tried for their writings.
Another troubled publication, Yarpaq newspaper, is published in Tehran. Due to its articles, the newspaper has received multiple warnings. Members of its Writers' Council, including Said Mughanli, managing editor Eyvaz Taha, and writer Reza Kazimi, have been repeatedly arrested. According to Ismail Javadi, Iranian authorities provide very clear instructions on which writings and words are acceptable and which are not.
In addition to prohibited topics, the Ministry of Guidance (Ershad) frequently specifies the themes that are encouraged through letters sent to publications.
ASMEK reports that unofficial instructions sent to newspapers promote anti-Azerbaijani articles. Newspapers that ignore these directives face fates similar to Shams-e Tabriz or Navid-e-Azerbaijan. The Navid-e-Azerbaijan newspaper was also shut down in early 2006 for allegedly promoting pan-Turkism and nationalism, and it was only able to resume publication after six months. Kiyan Safari, a writer whose articles angered Iran’s Ettelaat, was arrested in 2003.
The Veravi weekly published in Meshginshahr was also shut down six months ago for publishing articles that did not align with the regime’s interests.
ASMEK states that 50 Azerbaijani [Turkish]-language student journals have been shut down so far, and nearly 500 student writers have been arrested by the Ettelaat. Additionally, the organization highlights that students face pressures at universities. One of ASMEK’s concerns is that university budgets are allocated solely to Persian-language publications.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
İran Azərbaycanında mətbuat təzyiq altında