Newsweek Journalist Forced To Confess Working Against Iran

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Maziar Bahari, a 42 year old Canadian-Iranian reporter working for Newsweek Magazine, was forced by Iranian police to admit to a charge of "working for foreign governments while in Iran".

Bahari is one of the many journalists arrested in Iran while covering the election, and subsequent protests, and has confessed to "filing false reports for Newsweek Magazine" during the Iranian elections.

Bahari previously worked for the BBC and the ITN's 'Channel 4 News' in the UK and has gained a reputation for professionalism throughout his career.

In addition, the Iranian government is now proclaiming that anyone who is reporting for a satellite news service will be prosecuted for a criminal act. In an official statement printed in the pro-reform newspaper Hamshahri;

"The individuals, who in any way collaborate with these networks or are entrenched in the nucleus of organizations which are active through Internet sites, must be adequately and properly subject to legal actions. It is imperative that this phenomenon be seriously dealt with by all judicial authorities of the country as well as by provincial judicial authorities," Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi said in his published order.

The ayatollah called on local judicial heads to work with investigators to determine "intentions, objectives and their sources of financial, political and intelligence support" of individuals who "operate against the system," according to the Hamshahri report.

In essence, the Iranian government is now at war with media throughout the world including internet news reporters. This action underscores the exceptionally poor judgment shown by the Iranian government following the June 12th election. Had they acted to recount ballots to satisfy the voters curiosity it is likely that none of the subsequent events would have occurred.

Every effort has been made by the Iranian government to place blame for their obstinate and unthinking response to citizens demands on numerous foreign states, foreign journalists, the CIA, and terrorists, amongst many others.

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