Tuesday
Apr102012
Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- The Regime's Attack on Publishers (Arseh Sevom)
The Islamic Republic’s clash with private publishers has reached alarming levels. According to a recent report in Kalemeh, authorities have warned active publishers that they are working “due to the benevolence” of officials and “had they wanted to punish all offending publishers, many more of their publishing houses would have been closed". The closures are reportedly part of an organised attempt by the state to intentionally cause a crisis in this sector and further weaken it.
Some have expressed concern that the publishing guild is insufficiently strong to defend its members from government pressure.