08 August 2004	Sunday	21 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

TEHRAN, Aug 7: Some 150 Iranian journalists, some wearing black armbands, attended a mourning ceremony on Saturday for reformist newspapers closed in a press crackdown by the hardline judiciary.

Copies of closed-down newspapers were laid out on a table, surrounded by black candles. Two liberal dailies and a monthly magazine were shut by the judiciary last month.

"I send my condolences that pens do not enjoy safety in our country," leading academic dissident Hashem Aghajari told the reporters who had gathered on Iran's "Journalists' Day".

A freer press was one of the main achievements of moderate President Mohammad Khatami after he came to office in 1997, but more than 100 publications have now been banned and many writers jailed for "spreading lies" and "acting against state security".

There is now little left to show for President Khatami's efforts after hardliners took over parliament in May and began to unravel his reforms, particularly on economic liberalization.

"Is not the closure of more than 100 publications enough?" read one banner.

The meeting room was decked with photographs of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi who died in detention in Iran last year, and of imprisoned journalists Abbas Abdi and Akbar Ganji.

Abdi was jailed for publishing a poll suggesting that three-quarters of Iranians favoured patching up relations with the United States.

"Today is meant to be a day for journalists to celebrate, but when we have pressure on the media, colleagues in jail and periodicals are banned ... it is not a day to celebrate. It is a day to mourn," said journalist Zhila Bani-Yakoub.

Issa Saharkhiz, head of the Association for Press Freedom, said attention also needed to be given to the non-print media that were under attack, such as Rouydad, the Web site affiliated to Iran's main reformist party.-Reuters