Mohammad Hosseini, Ahmadinejad cabinet’s minister of culture and Islamic guidance, defended his press undersecretary’s massive crackdown on independent and critical publications for the second time in a week two days ago. Noting the reasons behind banning independent and reformist publications, he claimed, “The ministry of culture doesn’t want a unitary voice in the country”!
The culture minister’s claim was made while, in its latest measure the Press Oversight Committee issued 16 warnings to journals as well as “Bahar” daily; two days after the warnings, the culture minister and his press undersecretary, Mohammad Ali Ramin, defended each other’s actions in a meeting with members of the minority reformists faction in the Majlis.
Minister Opposes Single Voice!
According to Kalame website, Hosseini, who was speaking to some members of the Hormozgan province’s arts and culture community, defended his ministry’s decision to issue repeated warnings and widespread bans. He said, “There is a big difference between humor and mockery. A newspaper that has received 35 or 36 warnings, and mocks everything on a daily basis in a column under the name of humor, will certainly face the consequences.”
According to Kalame, he nevertheless insisted that the culture minister does not want there to be a unitary voice in the country, adding, “There must be an atmosphere for criticism in society, and officials must also have tolerance. No one is opposed to the battle of thoughts and ideas; we are opposed to libel, slander and fabrication.”
Executor of Law, Not Legal Scholar
Yesterday was not the first time in which the culture minister defended his ministry and the performance of his press undersecretary. Four days before the culture minister’s remarks, Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad Ali Ramin defended their press policy in a meeting with members of the minority reformist faction in the Majlis. According to the website Parleman News, their responses to questions posed by the minority faction members were not satisfactory, and the meeting ended without an agreement; the minority faction had threatened to impeach the culture minister if the meeting was not satisfactory.
At the meeting, noting that the culture ministry has had a hopeful performance in areas such as cinema, members of the minority faction chastised Ramin’s suppression of the press as illegal and insisted that Ramin’s actions against the reformist press were hypocritical and absolutely illegal.
Responding to criticisms and complaints from reformist lawmakers, the culture minister defended Ramin’s actions and declared that the ministry’s actions against the press have all been legal. In a similar remark earlier, reasoning that he is “not a legal scholar, but the executor of the law,” Mohamad Ali Ramin had branded his actions against the press as legal.
