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Iran shuts down reformist newspaper for “insulting Islam”

Feb 23, 2014 5:10 pm By Robert Spencer

SignIslamFreeSpeechWesternTerrorismHow could eye-for-eye punishment be inhumane? It’s in the Qur’an: “And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution” (5:45). This is the problem for Muslim reformers: such passages are the perfect and unaltered word of Allah; thus it is quite difficult to sustain an argument that they’re inhumane. Allah knows best, after all.

“Iran shuts reformist paper over comments on law,” from Reuters, February 22 (thanks to Lookmann):

(Reuters) – Iranian authorities shut a reformist newspaper on Thursday, less than a week after its launch, because it published comments critical of Islamic criminal law.

“Aseman” (Sky) newspaper, a weekly magazine turned newspaper aligned with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, had quoted a political science professor describing eye-for-an-eye punishment as “inhumane.”

“The newspaper was banned for spreading lies and insulting Islam,” an official from Tehran’s Prosecutor’s office told the official IRNA news agency.

Numerous articles by Iran’s hardline Fars News agency had called for the paper’s closure, reflecting conservative displeasure with any challenge to shariah law, which mandates equal retribution for a crime. Conservatives in parliament had also urged it be shut, calling the comments “unacceptable,” according to reports from Fars.

The paper’s managing director, Mohamad Ghouchani, was also prosecuted, the semi-official ISNA news agency said without elaborating. Ghouchani issued an apology later the same day.

“A technical problem at the last moments of printing led to this incident. If it were not for that, we would have deleted that part from the article,” he said, according to IRNA.

Aseman, which existed for years as a weekly, first published as a daily on Saturday with the cover saying “Rouhani is not alone”. It is the second newspaper to be shut since Rouhani took office in late August following his victory in presidential elections. Bahar, another reformist publication, was ordered closed in October after critics said it misrepresented Islamic history.

Following Rouhani’s election, many Iranians hoped he would make good on his promises for greater political and cultural freedoms at home, a development that has yet to materialize.

Nor will it.

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Filed Under: free speech, Iran Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. duh_swami says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    ‘An eye for an eye’…Well you know where that verse was stolen from…
    If put into actual practice there would be a lot of blind, toothless people wandering around bumping into each other.

  2. citycat says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 5:49 pm

    The banner that freely expressed:-

    “FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS WESTERN TERRORISM” should read-

    “FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS WESTERN DEFENCE AGAINST TERRORISM”

  3. Papa Whiskey says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    Well do I remember that picture — it’s from the “Cartoon Jihad” of 2006, in which Muslims across the globe attacked that fundamental Western value. And the American press made a nearly unanimous capitulation to the baying mobs, with only three — THREE — major papers having the courage and integrity to print any of them with their coverage of what was then the top story of the week. The rest did a crawl to Islam.

  4. Jay Boo says

    Feb 23, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    Iranians are an intelligent people.
    If they are allowed to speak freely many of them will say the truth.
    Islam is nothing but a bunch of ( …. )

  5. No Fear says

    Feb 24, 2014 at 1:24 am

    Many times I have been called a terrorist by a muslim. Why? Because I disagree with Islam and I point out unsavory behaviours of their leader Mohammed.

    The muslims definition of terror is someone who disagrees with Mohammed.

    Seriously. Imagine a Nazi saying that a terrorist is someone who disagrees with Adolf.

  6. Ajay says

    Feb 25, 2014 at 5:26 am

    Actually, Islam is branch of Judaism i.e. Ishmaeli-Jew. Ismaeli-Jew were disowned by Issaci-Jew thats why they shifted to Arabic and settled their, became Arabi. They translated Judaism in Arabi language, for Arab people i.e. Islam. Also adopted practices such as prohibition of pig meat, circumcision, and fasting etc. read http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/islamjudaism/
    They adopted word “Muslim” for follower of Islam, this is also Jew word. The word ‘Muslim’ is a derivative of the Jewish word “M’shulam”. Muslim is Jewish name. http://www.torahjudaism.org/index.php/articles/41-islam/99-muslims-or-jews-the-chicken-or-the-egg

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