IRAN: PAPERS ORDERED TO CENSOR EXECUTION NEWS

September 14, 2008: the mullahs' Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (MCIG) in Iran warned newspaper editors to censor reports about escalating number of executions, in particular that of the minors in the country. In two separate letters from the ministry, the editors of Kargozaran and Etemaad dailies were ordered not to publish news of executions since they have adverse international effects. Also, journalists insisting on covering the news should be laid off. In past the few weeks, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) contacted editorials across the country ordering them to fire reporters eager to cover executions. Kargozaran, Etemaad, Etemaad-Meli and Sarmaeh dailies as well as the Shahrvand weekly are some of the newspapers warned so far. Names of suspected columnists, news editors, and reporters of various dailies and publications appeared on the MOIS's black list. MOIS has demanded that all the firings end before the presidential elections next June. The editors were strictly ordered not to mention anything about MOIS pressure to fire the reporters. (Sources: NCR-Iran.org, 14/09/2008)