Iran brutally cracks down on media

"Freedom of press and speech is not absolute and subject to the rules of Sharia and the law," General and Revolutionary Prosecutor, Saied Mortazavi, who was reportedly involved in the murder of Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-Canadian photojournalist, told a group of reporters who cover the regime's Majlis (Parliament) yesterday.

(Source: The National Council of Resistance of Iran)

Whilst Mortazavi's comments are hardly likely to shock anyone around the world they do highlight the desperate situation in that country right now. Two journalists have been found dead and another severely beaten in recent weeks as part of a crackdown on reporters and press in Iran under the rule of the mullahs. While the imprisonment of journalists and closure of newspapers has been commonplace in Iran in recent years, events have taken a sinister turn for the worse. In April 2001, the National Union of Journalists called on trade-unionists - both in the press and other unions - to " isolate those who are hoping to silence the Iranian people into submission" by boycotting the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting network. In addition, it is important that these cases receive coverage in the mainstream media, alongside the current nuclear weapons' story, and that Iranians who are able to get online can find out what might otherwise be censored.