Saeed Mortazavi, Iran's Prosecutor, Receives 'Honor' Medal for Increased Suppression of Journalists - 2004-04-13

Saeed Mortazavi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, was selected as the 'Exemplary Manager of the Country' by Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, sending a clear message for the continuation of the 24-year war of the unelected clerics ruling Iran against all people, particularly writers, journalists, intellectuals, and artists. According to a report from the regime's presidential commission, Mortazavi was one of the first individuals involved in the interrogation of Ms. Zahra Kazemi, who was killed in the regime's prisons shortly after this interrogation. In the announcement from the head of the judiciary, the reason for Mortazavi's selection was described as 'the realization of the goals of the Islamic Republic and the development and moderation of the judicial system.' The National Coalition of Pro-Democracy Advocates (EADA) draws the attention of all freedom-loving individuals, especially journalists in Iran, to the ominous consequences of this 'selection,' which is the closure of more newspapers and the broader suppression of writers, students, and artists. Experience has shown that as long as Western governments choose the path of appeasement with the Iranian government and turn a blind eye to the crimes of this regime, the result will be more suppression and widespread executions and stonings of Iranians by this regime. According to a statement from 'Reporters Without Borders' dated July 22, 2003, one of Mortazavi's 'achievements' is that he shut down 13 newspapers in 40 days. His selection as 'Exemplary Manager of the Country' serves as a warning to member countries of the Human Rights Commission that are reviewing the state of human rights in the world, as despite protests from various human rights organizations and numerous documented reports from governments, they have yet to place the review of human rights in Iran on their agenda. EADA, along with all governments, groups, and other human rights organizations that have presented various documents and reports of multiple human rights violations to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, calls for the selection of a special rapporteur to monitor human rights in Iran by the Human Rights Commission.