A New Issue of the Suspended Newspaper Asman Will Be Published

The lawyer of the newspaper Asman announced on Saturday, December 28, that the newspaper was lifted from suspension last week after a year and a half, and Abbas Bozorgmehr, its editor-in-chief, is seeking "to secure the necessary financial credits" and to publish the newspaper again with a "new editorial team." According to ISNA news agency, Jamal Khondan Kouhaki said that Branch 79 of the Tehran Criminal Court had sentenced Abbas Bozorgmehr, the editor-in-chief and owner of the newspaper Asman, to pay a fine of two million tomans in September 2014. Mr. Khondan Kouhaki stated that this ruling was executed last week after final confirmation, and the case of the newspaper Asman has been "closed" in the Tehran prosecutor's office. He expressed hope that the newspaper would be published in the coming days with a "new editorial team." The first issue of the newspaper Asman was published on February 15, 2014, but it was suspended on March 1 of the same year due to the publication of an article about Qisas (retribution). Davood Hormidas Bavand, a former university professor and member of the National Front, described the Qisas bill as "inhuman" in an article published in the newspaper's issue on February 18, 2014. At that time, media and hardline figures close to the conservative faction of the Islamic Republic launched organized attacks against the newly published newspaper Asman, accusing it of desecrating religious sanctities for calling the Qisas bill "inhuman" and demanding its closure. In this regard, Mohammad Ghouchani, the editor-in-chief of Asman, stated that the term "inhuman" was supposed to be removed, but the initial text was published by mistake. Abbas Bozorgmehr, the editor-in-chief of Asman, was arrested on March 1, 2014, and was released on March 4 after posting a bail of 300 million tomans. Leila Ebrahimi, the compiler of the article that led to the newspaper's suspension, was also released on bail until the court session. Reporters Without Borders condemned the suspension of the newspaper Asman. The newspaper Asman was suspended, and its editor-in-chief was sent to Evin prison. Organized attacks from media and hardline figures against Asman continued.