Reformist Iran daily reappears after three-year ban

Tehran - Leading reformist daily Sharq (East) reappeared on the streets of Iran on Sunday after a three-year ban for publishing an interview with a gay rights activist.

The judiciary shut down the newspaper in 2007 over an interview with expatriate writer and poet Saghi Ghahreman, who lives in Canada and is also a champion of the rights of homosexuals.

Homosexuality is forbidden in Islamic Iran, and writing about the topic often leads to legal problems, as in the case of Sharq.

Reformist dailies and magazines are usually closed by a governmental press watchdog under the pretext of having insulted religious and political figures.

Other charges include fomenting public discord and working outside the strict press law.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318076,reformist-iran-daily-reappears-after-three-year-ban.html.