Iranian police set up Internet crime unit to fight ‘lies’ in new warning to opposition

Iran policing Internet in new attack on opposition

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has deployed a special police unit to sweep Web sites for political material and prosecute those deemed to be spreading lies, Iranian media reported Saturday, in a step clearly aimed at choking off the embattled opposition’s last real means of keeping its campaign alive.

Many opposition Web sites are already banned, but the activation of the new 12-member unit, which will report to the prosecutor’s office, signals an intention to strike a more severe blow to a movement that refuses to accept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in June.

“Authorities know that the Internet is one of the few available channels for the opposition to make its voice heard. They want to silence opposition voices,” said reform-minded journalist Akbar Montajabi, who described the measure as the latest set of restrictions imposed on media in the country.

Iran also pushed ahead Saturday with another key component in its battle with the opposition, sentencing a student activist to eight years in prison, according to the pro-opposition Web site Mowjcamp. More than 100 activists and some senior pro-reform figures have been on trial since August on charges of participating in rallies and plotting to overthrow the country’s clerical rulers.

The protest movement initially poured into the streets in June and July to press its claims that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was the rightful winner of a fraud-tainted vote, but it was swept back by a harsh security crackdown. Media restrictions kept reporters from witnessing the scenes in the streets, and the mass trial of opposition figures has deprived the movement of potential leaders.

Activists’ presence on the Internet, however, kept a spotlight on the crackdown for weeks after the June 12 vote, as Web users posted minute-by-minute updates and amateur video on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The most enduring moment of the protest story reached the world that way: Several cell phone videos captured the dying moments of a 27-year-old student named Neda Agha Soltan, who was shot on June 20 on the sidelines of a Tehran demonstration. The images were seen by millions on the Net and made her a potent symbol of the opposition’s struggle.

Police Col. Mehrdad Omidi, who heads what is being called an Internet crime unit, said the new committee will go after “insults and the spreading of lies,” terms widely used by the judiciary to describe opposition activities.

“Given the spread of Internet use, police must confront crimes taking place in the Web atmosphere,” he said, according to local news reports. “A special committee has been set up to monitor the Internet and deal with crimes … such as fraud, … insults and the spreading of lies.”

Omidi specifically said the 12-member unit will intervene in “political matters on the Internet should there be an illegal act.”

Iranian authorities have banned most Web sites linked to Iran’s opposition or those containing articles supporting the reform movement. But the opposition has continued to set up new Web sites within days of the old ones being blocked.

The opposition has no access to state media and has been promoting its message largely through the Internet.

Iranian newspapers are warned by authorities from time to time not to publish articles in support of the opposition leaders.

Iran’s state radio and TV are directly controlled by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who strongly endorsed Ahmadinejad’s re-election.

It was not clear exactly how the new unit would carry out its surveillance.

Aboutorab Fazel, manager of ILNA news agency, said Iranian police have long monitored Web sites but now they are refining their techniques to gain even more control.

“Almost every day, authorities impose new rules on how to operate Web sites. It is not new but they are organizing their efforts to be more effective,” he said.

The student activist sentenced to jail on Saturday, Abdollah Momeni, was convicted of acts against the security of Iran and of participating in protests, the Mowjcamp opposition site reported.

The Web site quoted his wife, Fatemeh Adinehvand, as saying that the sentence was “unjust” and denying that Momeni ever joined any of the street protests.

Momeni was the spokesman for a university student organization called the Office for Fostering Unity. He was arrested on June 21 at the campaign headquarters of Mahdi Karroubi, another pro-reform presidential candidate.

Keyser reported from Cairo. Associated Press Writer Lee Keath contributed to this report from Cairo.