Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Following the Sazandegi newspaper’s recent criticism of Iran ‘s economic policies and morality police, the Iranian authorities Monday banned the reformist daily Sazandegi for publishing “false content“, the state news agency IRNA reported.
The action to ban the paper comes after a wave of protests broke out in September 2022 over the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd woman, following her arrest by the country’s morality police force over an alleged breach of the stringent dress code for women.
IRNA reported that in its meeting on Monday (20 February) that the country’s Press Supervisory Board banned Sazandegi newspaper. It elaborated that the probes had found that the newspaper had committed “violations” by disturbing public opinion” after publishing “false content”.
Reformist paper Sazandegi first published in 2018
The Sazandegi was first published in February 2018, and had been established by the reformist Executives of Construction Party. The paper, according to report, had a daily circulation of about 8,000 copies, according to AFP.
The daily had recently published news reports criticizing the Iranian government’s economic policies, as well as Iran’s morality police.
Amini’s custodial death set in motion months-long protests in Iran that have resulting hundreds of people getting killed, including law-enforcement personnel, along with the arrest of thousands.
Iran some time ago released dozens of individuals, many of whom had been detained over the protests, under a partial amnesty granted by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
However, many activists, journalists, and politicians are still in jail, some of whom are facing years-long sentences.
