Sarmayeh
{{Infobox Newspaper
| name = Sarmayeh
| image =
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| type = Daily business newspaper
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| foundation =
| ceased publication = 2009
| price =
| owners =
| political position =
| publisher =
| editor = Saeed Laylaz, Bahman Ahmadi Amouee
| staff = Jila Baniyaghoob
| circulation =
| language = Persian
| headquarters =
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}}
Sarmayeh ({{langx|fa|سرمایه|italic=yes}}; {{lit|The Capital}}) was a Persian-language daily business newspaper published in Tehran, Iran, until it was banned from publishing by the Iranian government, and several of its reporters and editors were arrested on state security charges in 2009.
Journalism
Sarmayeh
2009 arrests and banning
Beginning in June 2009, Iran saw widespread protests following a disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected amid allegations of voter fraud. On the night of 20 June, husband-and-wife Sarmayeh team Baniyaghoob and Amouee were arrested at their home by plainclothes police officers, as part of a general crackdown on journalists.{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D98V7TPO0.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103041648/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D98V7TPO0.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 January 2013|title=At least 24 reporters arrested in Iran|author=Angela Charlton|date=21 June 2009|work=Associated Press |via=HighBeam Research|accessdate=4 September 2012}} On 4 January 2010, Amouee was sentenced to a flogging of 32 lashes as well as seven years and four months' imprisonment on charges of "gathering and colluding with intent to harm national security", "spreading propaganda against the system", "disrupting public security" and "insulting the president". In the same month, Baniyaghoob was tried and convicted for "spreading propaganda against the system" and "insulting the president". The court banned her from practicing journalism for thirty years and sentenced her to a year in prison.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-must-release-prisoner-conscience-zhila-bani-yaghoub-2012-09-03|title=Iran must release prisoner of conscience Zhila Bani-Yaghoub|date=3 September 2012|publisher=Amnesty International|archivedate=10 September 2012|url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910013509/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-must-release-prisoner-conscience-zhila-bani-yaghoub-2012-09-03|accessdate=4 September 2012}} Editor Saeed Laylaz was also arrested.
Amnesty International designated both Amouee and Baniyaghoob to be prisoners of conscience, "detained solely for their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression", and called for their immediate release.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/002/2010/en/ |title=Iran: Further Information: Three Iranian Journalists Sentenced|date=8 July 2010|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=4 September 2012}} Human Rights Watch also lobbied for Amouee's release, stating that his imprisonment was a violation of freedom of speech; in 2011, the organization named him a winner of its Hellmann-Hammett award.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/13/iran-end-abuse-imprisoned-journalists|title=Iran: End Abuse of Imprisoned Journalists|date=13 July 2012|publisher=Human Rights Watch|accessdate=5 September 2012}} In 2009, the International Women's Media Foundation awarded Baniyaghoob its Courage In Journalism prize, stating that she had "fearlessly reported on government and social oppression, particularly as they affect women".{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D988QV6G1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329181705/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D988QV6G1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 March 2015|title=Belarus, Cameroon, Iran, Israel journalists cited |date=18 May 2009|work=Associated Press|via=HighBeam Research|accessdate=4 September 2012}} The following year, she won the Freedom of Speech Award of Reporters Without Borders.{{cite web |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_journalist_charged_unauthorized_blog/3556103.html|title=Iranian Journalist Charged Over 'Unauthorized Blog'|date=4 September 2012|work=Radio Free Europe|url-status=live|archivedate=15 April 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415145356/http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_journalist_charged_unauthorized_blog/3556103.html|accessdate=4 September 2012}}
On 2 November 2009, the press supervisory board of Iran banned Sarmayeh.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-newspaper-ban-idUSTRE5A129U20091102|author=Fredrik Dahl|title=Iran bans pro-reform business daily|date=2 November 2009|work=Reuters|url-status=live|archivedate=14 November 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114134547/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/02/us-iran-newspaper-ban-idUSTRE5A129U20091102|accessdate=5 September 2012}} Four more publications close to the Green Movement were also banned in Iran in 2009, including Hayat-e-No.{{cite news|title=Critical Press Under Constant Pressure|url=http://www.roozonline.com/english/news3/newsitem/article/critical-press-under-constant-pressure.html|accessdate=15 October 2013|work=Rooz Online|date=12 December 2009|author=Hossein Mohammadi}}
See also
{{Portal|Iran|journalism}}