Iran: an arbitrary decision to close “Al-Arabiya” in Tehran

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) strongly condemned resolution of the Iranian authorities to close down the office of “Al-Arabiya” TV channel in the Tehran for a week, without declaring any grounds, while the Adminstrative Court in Cairo will consider a Hesba case aims at closing the Office of the office of the Iranian state owned “Al-Alam” Satellite channel in Cairo.

 

The Iranian ministry of information had orally informed the administration of the Al-Arabiya TV on the closure of the office for one week starting from Yesterday; Sunday, June 14, without showing any reasons for this arbitrary decision and after less than one year of the decision of expelling the Director of the Office of the same channel in September 2008.

 

The decision to close the Office of “Al-Arabiya” in Tehran yesterday, comes at the same time while the Department of the Iranian Al-Alam is waiting for the decision of the Administrative Court in Cairo in one of the political Hesba cases filed by a lawyer, demanding the closure of the satellite channel”s office in Cairo for alleged assault on the Egyptian Government.

 

Gamal Eid the Executive Director of ANHRI said; “authoritarian governments always drink from the same cup, whenever they shackle the media, they face other governments who seek to shackle their own media. This is happening with the Iranian government now, the government which condemns the attempt to close one of its TV satellite channels while it decides to close “Al-Arabiya” office which is actually a sarcastic irony”

 

The Legal Aid Unit for Freedom of Expression in ANHRI decided to intervene in the case tomorrow against the closure of “Al-Alam”, in support of the channel”s right to continue its transmission and in opposition to the Hisba cases which have become the arch-enemy of freedom of expression in Egypt.

 

The Source