Iran Creates Fake Blogs in Smear Campaign against Journalists in Exile

THE GUARDIAN: BBC Persian staff victims of online identity theft designed to discredit them, with family in Iran facing harassment as well

Iran has been conducting a smear campaign designed to intimidate Iranian journalists living in exile, including apparent death threats. Cyber-activists linked to the Islamic republic have fabricated news, duplicated Facebook accounts and spread false allegations of sexual misconduct by exiled journalists, while harassment of family members back in Iran has been stepped up by security officials.

Staff at the BBC's Persian service in London are among dozens of Iranian journalists who have been subjected to what appears to be an operation sponsored by the authorities and aimed at discrediting reporters in the eyes of the public in Iran.

It is not the first time the Iranian authorities have resorted to such tactics, but Sadeq Saba, head of BBC Persian, said the number of incidents and level of harassment has increased in the last few weeks.

"In comparison to previous round of harassment, this time the language they were using in Iran [against the family members] was more threatening," he said. According to Saba, members of journalists' families have been summoned to the intelligence service headquarters for questioning. One journalist whose parents were interrogated several times said they were told he should stop working for the BBC or risk being killed. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Thursday, January 24, 2013

Sarkozy and de Villepin Enter Court Battle Over Alleged Smear Campaign
THE GUARDIAN: Smear campaign charges centre on kickback claims / Clearstream trial threatens to damage country's elite

It has been billed as France's political trial of the decade, a saga worthy of the darkest spy thriller that threatens to expose poisonous machinations and backstabbing at the highest reaches of the French state.

Tomorrow morning, in the courtroom where Marie-Antoinette was ordered to be beheaded in 1793, a legal battle will begin that is unprecedented in modern French history. France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is the key plaintiff in a trial accusing the former prime minister Dominique de Villepin of running an elaborate smear campaign to damage Sarkozy's chances in the 2007 presidential election campaign. If De Villepin is found guilty of a plot to torpedo Sarkozy's political career, he could face five years in prison.

But the so-called "Clearstream" trial involves not just the all-consuming hatred and rivalry between two of France's most prominent politicians. It also threatens to damage the standing of the French intelligence services and business world. Scores of plaintiffs and witness from the highest levels of French politics, senior spies and businessmen, will take part in the trial which former president Jacques Chirac once warned would damage the entire French political class.

Sarkozy is so bent on justice that he has vowed to hang those responsible for the alleged plot "on a butcher's hook". De Villepin, who privately refers to Sarkozy as "the dwarf", denies wrongdoing, saying the president is "obsessed" and "meddling" in the justice system by forcing the case to trial.

The saga dates back to 2004, when Sarkozy and De Villepin were rival ministers under Chirac and both possible runners for the 2007 presidency. Sarkozy, the young, ambitious finance minister who had turned against Chirac, his one-time mentor, was the favourite to lead the country. De Villepin, who served as foreign and interior minister before becoming prime minister, was an aristocratic career diplomat, a Napoleon fan who Chirac called his "commando-in-chief".

In the summer of 2004, an anonymous source wrote to one of France's investigating judges, accusing a string of politicians and businessmen of holding secret bank accounts at the Luxembourg bank Clearstream. The accounts were said to have been used for laundering kickbacks from the £1.5bn sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991. On the lists of supposedly crooked account holders were scores of politicians from the right and left, top businessmen, leading journalists, even a famous female actor. … >>> Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Mormon Smears Turn Republican Race Sour
THE SUNDAY TIMES: THE only Mormon in the 2008 presidential race, Mitt Romney, is coming under attack for his religious beliefs as the battle for the Republican nomination becomes increasingly acrimonious.

Telephone calls to voters accusing the former governor of Massachusetts of subscribing to outlandish beliefs and “flip-flop-ping” on big issues have been made under the guise of polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, crucial early voting states that Romney must win.

These “push-polling” calls drew attention to Romney’s deferment of military service during the Vietnam war while serving as a missionary for the Mormons in France and pointed out that none of his five sons had enlisted in the military.

Callers also claimed the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints did not consecrate blacks as bishops until the 1970s and believes the Book of Mormon supersedes the Bible. Romney called the attacks “unAmerican”.

Robert Redford, the film star, joined in the Mormon-bashing this month, claiming that church followers were “very adept at not being fazed and speaking fluently and gracefully” because they “learn how to deflect blows and stay on message” when they go on missions “when they are 19 or 20”.

He added: “So when you see Mitt Romney, he’s already been practising how to deflect blows and stay on message. But it’s plastic.”

The race is growing dirtier as the fight for the nomination intensifies between Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, and Romney. Mormon smears turn Republican race sour (more) By Sarah Baxter

Mark Alexander