A Journalist Summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office for Writing About ‘Corruption and Rent’ in the Paper Sector

Pejman Mousavi, a journalist, announced his summons to the prosecutor’s office on charges of “publishing lies” and “slander”.

Pejman Mousavi, a journalist, wrote on Twitter on Sunday, Bahman 6, that today he appeared at the prosecutor’s office for two charges of “publishing lies and slander” and in his defense against these charges, he referred to “visible and hidden relations of the former assistant of the Ministry of Culture’s press department” and “some press institutions that had received billions of rials in paper and subsidies”.

This journalist had previously announced his court appearance for writing about “unhealthy relations between some members of the Ministry of Culture with managers of some publications” and “the cycle of rent and corruption, subsidies and paper”.

Corruption in paper imports had previously made headlines. Earlier, in Ordibehesht of this year, official statistics published in domestic Iranian media showed that approximately 93 percent of imported paper at the official exchange rate (4,200 tomans) is unaccounted for. The Minister of Culture had also said that the Organization for the Prohibition of Banned Items had opened an investigation into the matter, however, no transparent report on the results of investigations has been published so far.

The paper price crisis in Iran in recent months was so severe that some newspapers, including Hamshahri and Iran newspapers, announced they were forced to reduce their pages due to price increases.

Despite widespread financial corruption in Iran and the involvement of some officials in corruption cases, actions against journalists have become more severe. The Journalists Protection Committee announced in Azar of this year in a report that Iran is among the worst prisons for journalists in the world, identifying at least 250 journalists detained in connection with their journalistic activities.

Previously, the U.S. State Department published content titled “40 Years of Unfulfilled Promises” of the Islamic Republic on its Farsi Twitter and wrote about corruption, lack of freedom of expression, lack of justice, and unfulfilled economic promises by the Islamic Republic’s officials.

The U.S. State Department wrote in these tweets that “Forty years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini promised freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Today, Iran has one of the most repressed media spaces. The ruling regime has only brought forty years of failure.”

Source: Voice of America