Announcement of Siamak Pourzand's Conviction - 2002-05-04

A court in Iran has sentenced Siamak Pourzand, an old journalist, to 8 years in prison on charges of acting against national security. The state newspaper Iran, which published this news, reports that Pourzand confessed to contacting Iranians in exile who are close to the son of the former Shah of Iran. The court's ruling against the 73-year-old journalist was issued on Friday. According to reports, Pourzand told the court, which was held behind closed doors, that he was providing information to Iranians in exile in hopes of creating a pluralistic society in Iran. Siamak Pourzand is the husband of Mehrangiz Kar, a prominent human rights activist who was imprisoned for 25 days last year for attending a controversial conference in Berlin. After state television aired selected scenes from a film showing a woman dancing at the Berlin conference, conservatives in Iran raised their voices in protest against the participants. In the past two years, during the crackdown on reformists and other allies of Mohammad Khatami, the reformist president of Iran, dozens of journalists and freedom-seeking publishers have been imprisoned by conservatives. You can listen to the full report in the human rights section.