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Report: Al-Jazeera Reporters Banned From Iran
The Associated Press
Published: Apr 18, 2005
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran suspended the nationwide operations of Arab TV broadcaster Al-Jazeera on April 18, accusing it of inflaming violent protests by the Arab minority in its southwest, state-run TV reported.
Al-Jazeera, which is popular among Iran's Arab-speaking minority, is believed to have been the first news outlet to broadcast news of the unrest in Khuzistan province along the border with Iraq. Several people were reported to have been killed. The station's commentators discussed the clashes on talk shows as well.
Tehran ordered the station to cease operations until the network explained the motives behind its coverage.
"If it is proved that Al-Jazeera committed a crime, it will be prosecuted," an official at Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, told state-run TV.
Jihad Ballout, an Al-Jazeera spokesman in Doha, Qatar, said he had heard media reports of the ban, but the station had not yet received official notification.
Al-Jazeera has occasionally run into problems with authorities in Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq. The United States frequently has criticized the station for its coverage of the war in Iraq.
Unlike state-run media, the station often airs views of local opposition figures and their criticisms of their countries' rulers.
Arabs make up just 3 percent of Iran's population. Persians account for 51 percent of its 69 million people. +++++
^France's Supreme Court overturns acquittal of three photographers in Diana crash case
PARIS (AP) - France's Supreme Court on April 13 partially overturned the acquittal of three photographers tried for invasion of privacy after they snapped pictures of Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Fayed at the scene of their fatal 1997 car crash, a lawyer said.
The case will now be retried by a Paris appeals court - a process expected to last into next year.
Jacques Langevin, Christian Martinez and Fabrice Chassery were first acquitted in November 2003 - a ruling upheld on appeal in September. The courts concurred that a crashed vehicle on a public highway is not a private area - a precedent-setting decision.
But the Cour de Cassation, France's Supreme Court, disagreed, ruling that a crashed vehicle is a private space, said Arnaud Lyon-Caen. He is an attorney for Fayed's father, Egyptian-born billionaire Mohammed Al Fayed, who filed the invasion of privacy complaint against the photographers.
They were tried only for taking pictures of Dodi Fayed. Diana's relatives and the British royal family were not plaintiffs in the case, which focused on three photos of the couple leaving the Ritz Hotel by car and three after the accident on Aug. 31, 1997, in a tunnel alongside the River Seine.
The Cour de Cassation's decision only concerned the three photos of the crash. The lower courts had concluded the photos of the couple leaving the Ritz did not constitute invasion of privacy because they knew they would be photographed.
The three men, whose photos were confiscated and not published, were among the swarm of photographers who pursued the car carrying Diana and Fayed across Paris, and took photos after it slammed into the pillar of the traffic tunnel.
Fayed and driver Henri Paul were killed instantly. Diana died later in a hospital. Only the bodyguard survived.
A five-year investigation into the crash concluded that Paul had been drinking and was speeding.
In 2002, France's highest court dropped manslaughter charges against nine photographers - including Langevin, Martinez and Chassery. +++++
^Dominica government foes protest state radio station's elections campaign coverage
ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) - More than 100 government opponents protested in front of a state-run radio station April 15, accusing the network of providing biased coverage of Dominica's elections campaign.
Critics say the Dominica Broadcasting Corporation has refused to grant the opposition time slots for campaign programs and messages. They say the station covers both opposition and government political activities, but refuses to cover opposition events live.
"We are entering into a dangerous era," said Atherton Martin, a former agriculture minister who organized the protest. The station "is denying access to views other than that of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit."
The protest came a day after the Media Workers Association of Dominica announced a boycott of political debates during the campaign, accusing government officials of mistreating journalists.
Skerrit recently angered journalists by refusing to participate in a debate sponsored by the media association, calling it "a trap."
The Broadcasting Corporation is the oldest of three radio stations on the island of 70,000 people. The other two are privately owned.
Mariette Warrington, the director of the Broadcasting Corporation, denied the network was politically biased, saying it only screens content to avoid libel suits.
Trade Minister Osborne Riviere has also angered journalists by calling reporters who were trying to interview him "stupid."
"It is time that we take a stance," said Dennis Joseph, the president of the media association.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 5. +++++
^Bitter fight over Ukrainian television station prompts cries of political retribution
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - President Viktor Yushchenko's pledge to safeguard media rights - a promise that helped swing support behind last year's Orange Revolution - is facing its first real test in a bitter legal battle over a TV company linked with the former regime.
The dispute could topple Ukraine's NTN television, the funding for which comes from a businessman linked to former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who lost last year's presidential race.
Prosecutors are challenging NTN's right to beam its news programs into homes across this nation of 48 million, claiming NTN is using frequencies it didn't pay for and wasn't entitled to. NTN denies the charges, calling the challenge a politically motivated effort to transfer its airspace to more friendly hands.
Analysts say the dispute could easily backfire on Yushchenko if the nation is left with the impression that the new government's commitment to a free press doesn't extend to media outlets owned by its opponents.
A Kiev court is due to consider the case on May 19.
NTN is a relatively new player on Ukraine's media field, but its sleek design, fast-paced programming and aggressive attitude has won it a dedicated following. Editor in chief Nataliya Katerynchuk said the station strives for an independent viewpoint with a motto that journalists have to at times "spill the blood of politicians."
So far, it has adopted a moderate course. The station's biggest problem with the new government came amid their attempts to profile government ministers at home - with those "living in big country homes with Rolls Royces being the most unreceptive," Katerynchuk said.
The station is bankrolled by Eduard Prutnik, a former adviser to Yanukovych from eastern Ukraine, a region hostile to Yushchenko.
Originally granted a license to broadcast only in Kiev and the surrounding region, the station sought agreements last year to use military frequencies to expand its reach to 75 cities.
Ukraine's National Television and Radio Council had refused to approve the expansion, prompting NTN to seek approval to expand its license in the courts. It won approval in two court decisions.
The council has called such a backdoor method illegal and said that if NTN wants to expand its license it must go through an open bidding procedure. Ukrainian prosecutors filed a lawsuit against the company, saying it shortchanged the state budget; NTN says it paid $411,000 for the rights.
+++++ ^Iran rejects Canadian demand for international probe into photojournalist's death
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran on April 12 rejected a Canadian demand for an international forensic team to examine the body of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died in Iranian custody, a decision likely to further sour relations between the two countries.
Canada is campaigning to determine the cause of death of Zahra Kazemi, who died in 2003, several days after being arrested for taking photos of a demonstration outside a Tehran prison.
A spokesman for the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry criticized Iran's decision, but said it was not surprising.
"It's consistent with the pattern of cover-up and lies," Sebastien Theberge said.
Stephan Hachemi, Kazemi's son, said he was not surprised.
"They are not ready to reveal the truth and assume responsibility for the murder," Hachemi said from Montreal.
Hard-line authorities said she died of a stroke, but a commission appointed by Iran's president found Kazemi died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage that were caused by the impact of a hard object. Iranian reformists have said she was tortured to death.
A doctor who said he examined the 54-year-old photographer in the hospital, Shahram Azam, said her body bore injuries consistent with torture and rape. His allegation prompted Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew to demand an international forensic examination.
Iran's judiciary, however, rejected an international inquiry, saying Iranian authorities would carry out any investigation.
"Such a demand does not conform with Iranian laws or international regulations," the spokesman for Iran's judges, Jamal Karimirad, told reporters April 12.
"Kazemi was an Iranian citizen. Although she also had Canadian nationality, under Iran's laws, an additional citizenship doesn't negate her Iranian nationality. Therefore, Iran's judiciary is competent to carry out the investigation," Karimirad said.
Karimirad also denied that Azam had examined Kazemi. He dismissed Azam's comments as "baseless and false" and hinted they were made to gain political asylum in Canada.
Azam, who spoke about Kazemi's injuries after moving to Canada, said he examined Kazemi in a Tehran hospital emergency ward after she was transferred from Evin prison.
Last year, an Iranian court acquitted secret agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi of killing Kazemi. Lawyers representing Kazemi's relatives have conceded that Ahmadi was not guilty, but they believe Kazemi was beaten to death by a hard-line prison official.
Hard-liners were angered when the lawyers - led by Noble Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi - accused a prison official by name of inflicting the fatal blow.
Karimirad said family lawyers have been invited to attend a hearing in May when explanations for her death will be presented.
But Karimirad declined to reveal more about the hearing. Soltani said he didn't know its purpose but said he and his colleagues will insist on their demand to summon several top officials, including hard-line Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi, to explain Kazemi's death. +++++
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AP-ES-04-18-05 1935EDT |
