Mohammad Ghouchani ( fa, محمد قوچانی, born 22 September 1976 in

Rasht Rasht ( fa, رشت, Rašt ; glk, Rəšt, script=Latn; also romanized as Resht and Rast, and often spelt ''Recht'' in French and older German manuscripts) is the capital city of Gilan Province, Iran. Also known as the "City of Rain" (, ''Ŝahre B ...

) is an Iranian journalist. He has served as editor-in-chief of various

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

print media, many of which have been banned by the authorities.

Early life and education

Ghouchani was born in 1976 in the city of

. He graduated from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

with a degree in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Career

He started his career in '' Jame'eh'', the most famous among the newspapers that started after the reformer Mohammad Khatami became the president in 1997. Ghouchani also wrote for '' Asr-e Azadegan'' and became the "star" of that publication. In 2000, he won political columnist of the year prize at the Iranian Press Festival, but was jailed shortly after for his writings. He became the first editor-in-chief of '' Shargh'' in 2003 until it was closed down in September 2006. He then held the same position at '' Ham-Mihan'' between May and June 2007, when the latter was also banned. From 2007 to 2008, he was editor of the weekly magazine ''

Shahrvand-e-Emrooz ''Shahrvand-e-Emrooz'' ( fa, شهروند امروز, lit=Today’s Citizen) was a Persian-language weekly news magazine that was in circulation between March 2007 and September 2011. History and profile ''Shahrvand-e-Emrooz'' was launched in Ma ...

''. Ghouchani then served as the editor-in-chief of '' Etemad-e Melli'', the official organ of National Trust Party led by

Mehdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house a ...

. He was also in charge of the women's lifestyle magazine ''

Irandokht Irandokht ( fa, ایراندخت; 1915–1984) was a princess of Persia. She was the first child of Ahmad Shah Qajar and Badr al-Molouk. She was princess of Persia before leaving the country with her parents when she was 10 years old, when her ...

'', another publication close to Karroubi, until its office was raided in December 2009. In the aftermath of

2009 Iranian presidential election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...

, Ghouchani was imprisoned along with many journalists and both his publications were closed down. After 131 days in detention, he was released on bail. With ease of pressure on media as Hassan Rouhani took office, Ghouchani published a pre-issue of '' Ham-Mihan'' on 26 October 2013, but the

judicial system The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

allegedly prevented republication of the newspaper. He also served as the editor-in-chief of '' Aseman'' and '' Mehrnameh''. The former was a weekly magazine that was turned into a daily newspaper, but it was shut down by the judicial authorities less than a week after its launch in February 2014.

Views

Ghouchani is a critic of Neo-Shariatism. In 2004, Ghouchani spoke out about the red lines that could not be crossed in Iran, and said he views the ethical standard for journalism in Iran as "not lying to society". He also stated "Journalism is our job, our passion and our life, something that we don’t want to lose, unless we reach the point where we cannot work honorably".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghouchani, Mohammad Iranian journalists People from Rasht Living people 1976 births Executives of Construction Party politicians Iranian newspaper publishers (people) Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Iran