Iran Press Crackdown — April 2000

On 24 April 2000, the day after Iranian reformists celebrated their landslide victory in February's parliamentary elections (taking three-quarters of seats), Press Court Judge Saeed Mortazavi executed an order closing 16 to 21 reformist newspapers overnight — the single largest assault on the Iranian press in the Islamic Republic's history. The action directly followed a speech by Ali Khamenei branding reformist newspapers 'enemy bases' that 'appear to be directed from the same centre' to 'make the people pessimistic about the system.' Mortazavi cited a 1960 crime-prevention law to justify mass closures without individual hearings. Papers closed included Sobh-e Emroz, Mosharekat, Ham-Mihan, Asr-e Azadegan, and many others. The same week, Saeed Hajjarian was shot in the face and severely disabled. Akbar Ganji was arrested on 22 April; Emadeddin Baghi on 29 May. When the reformist-dominated Sixth Majlis tried to pass a press freedom bill in August 2000, Khamenei personally ordered the bill removed from the parliamentary agenda. By February 2004 Mortazavi had personally overseen the closure or license revocation of approximately 90–120 publications.