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Hossein Mohammadi

Nemat Ahmadi has in recent years been the defense attorney for many banned and shut ‎newspapers in Iran who has also defended detained journalists. We talked with him about ‎the dissolution of the Association of Iranian Journalists (AOIJ) and he said, “The way ‎they treat AOIJ has political angle and the ruling of the Ministry of Labor is now lawful.” ‎Read on for the details.‎

Rooz (R): Mr. Ahmadi, there is plenty of talk these days about shutting the AOIJ. Does ‎the Ministry of Labor have legal authority to do this? ‎

Nemat Ahmadi (NA): No. The ministry has a supervisory role and can annul elections ‎and call for fresh elections. That is all.‎

R: But in the letter that they had sent, they talk of dissolution.‎

NA: You must ask the ministry about this. They regularly claim that they are bound by ‎international conventions and fulfill them. One must ask them on the basis of which legal ‎provision did they dissolve the association.‎

R: Some believe that the reason they are treating the association this way is political, i.e. ‎that some of the positions of the association have lead to this. How true is this?‎

NA: Precisely so. The dissolution of the association has been a political act. I see this act ‎to be the continuation of suppressive measures that have political utility for the upcoming ‎elections. This is similar to their shutting newspapers so that no newspapers are left and ‎parties have no newspapers. Look at the bizarre measures they took over Hambastegi ‎newspaper and others. They annulled the association because with 4,000 members it ‎could play an effective role.‎

R: So one cannot be optimistic about the future of the association?‎

NA: On the contrary. I am fully optimistic about the future work of the association. The ‎leaders of the association must now do 2 things: First they should submit a complaint to ‎the Administrative Court asking it to annul the dissolution order of the ministry of labor; ‎and second, they should file another case with the Administrative Court informing it ‎about changing the provisions of its charter. At the same time and during this period, the ‎existing board of directors should continue its work as before.‎

R: In view of the politicized talks and atmosphere, can one be optimistic about a fair ‎ruling from the Administrative Court?‎

NA: Yes. One must use all legal means that are available.‎