Press freedom to be key indicator of change in Iran

BRUSSELS, June 26 (KUNA) -- The election of President Hassan Rohani in Iran provides a window of opportunity for democratic change, a roundtable discussion hosted by the European Parliament on Tuesday has concluded, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in a press release here Wednesday.

The event was jointly organised by Tarja Cronberg, Chair of the European Parliament delegation on Iran, the IFJ and Iranian journalists and writers.
"There is a window of opportunity for change in Iran," said Ms Cronberg. "On the eve of the election, candidate Rohani promised to release all political prisoners" she said.

IFJ President, Jim Boumelha, described the President-elect "as a man the international community can do business with, on the basis of his inside knowledge of Iranian politics." However, Boumelha cautioned against high expectations on what President Hassan can achieve for press freedom in the immediate future.

"The excitement over his election must be tempered with the expectation that he will want to tread carefully so as not to antagonize the hardliners in Iran," said Boumelha.

In the meantime, he said that the IFJ will continue campaigning for independent media, in solidarity with the Association of Iranian Journalists, which was shut down in the wake of the clampdown on media in 2009.

Iranian journalists agreed that change may take time and called for European governments to maintain pressure on Iranian authorities and demand genuine independence of media.

"President Rohani carries the hopes of Iranian people but it is too soon to tell what will happen," added Ali Mazrooei, President of the Association of Iranian journalists.

"But the situation of journalists remains bleak. At least 40 journalists are still in jail and there is no free flow of information. Very few newspapers are independent," he said. (end) nk.mt KUNA 262034 Jun 13NNNN