A Journalist Arrested for 'Insulting' the Third Imam of Shia Muslims

The official news agency of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic reported the arrest of Pouyan Khoshhal, a journalist for the newspaper Ebtekar, on charges of 'insulting' Hussein ibn Ali, the third Imam of Shia Muslims, and other Shia Imams. According to Mizan Online, Mr. Pouyan had been 'under judicial pursuit' and was arrested on Wednesday night, November 2, 'while intending to leave the country,' following 'swift and decisive judicial actions.' Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated that the deputy prosecutor and head of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint based on reports from 'public sources and judicial agents regarding an individual who was active in one of the widely circulated newspapers and published multiple insulting materials against Hazrat Aba Abdillah.' After the request for prosecution of this journalist, the case was referred to one of the investigative branches of this prosecutor's office. Following a report on October 29 by the newspaper 'Ebtekar' written by Pouyan Khoshhal titled 'Illness Lurking for Reckless Pilgrims!' where he used the term 'passing' instead of 'martyrdom' for Hussein ibn Ali, Mohammad Hosseini, a former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, criticized this action. The subject of his report was 'Health Hazards Awaiting Pilgrims to the City of Karbala.' Hosseini reacted on his Twitter account saying, 'What shamelessness.' Subsequently, Hezbollah activists in cyberspace and conservative media widely began to circulate images of this article by Pouyan and other writings on his personal social media pages. They claim that this journalist has 'insulted and disrespected the Imams multiple times on his social media page, which has caused distress among the minds of believers and lovers of the infallible Imams.' Several journalists have also reported on social media about Pouyan's 'dismissal' from the newspaper Ebtekar, which has faced reactions from other reformist journalists. Amir Hossein Moslehi, a journalist, quoted Mohammad Ali Vakili, the owner and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Ebtekar, stating that Mojtaba, his son, is the editor-in-chief of this newspaper and therefore responsible for the published materials. He wrote on Twitter: 'Did Mohammad Ali Vakili not say my son is the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Ebtekar? Is it not the editor-in-chief's duty to check all the materials? Now that a problem has arisen, why does this son of a representative not accept responsibility! It cannot be that he was only the editor-in-chief for obtaining a traffic plan! Why is everyone blaming Pouyan Khoshhal?' Moslehi added: 'Mr. Vakili! Please read the news from the Mizan website affiliated with the judiciary! The main reason for Pouyan Khoshhal's arrest was the report of the newspaper Ebtekar! And then Twitter! A report that should have been checked by the secretary, editor-in-chief, and responsible manager! It was even republished on the site without any oversight! Instead of dismissing the journalist, you should be responsible!' Meanwhile, Mojtaba Vakili responded to him on Twitter: 'What achievement does it bring to knowingly or unknowingly publish an incorrect statement or what problem does it solve? My dear friend, you know well that the issue with the report was not that complicated. The real problem is the tweets that your friends heated up. Let's use other methods to tarnish others.' The newspaper Ebtekar, on Friday (November 3), also explained that in this report, 'by mistake' instead of 'martyrdom,' an incorrect term was used, and they apologized to the presence of Hazrat Wali Asr, Imam Hussein, and all Shia Muslims. The management of this newspaper added that the editorial board of Ebtekar 'holds great respect for the Ahl al-Bayt, especially Imam Hussein,' and once again apologized to 'all those who were upset due to this mistake.' This is not the first time a journalist has been arrested or imprisoned on charges of 'insulting' Shia Imams. Amir Hossein Mir Asmaeili, a journalist for the newspaper Jahan San'at, was also arrested in recent months for publishing humorous articles about the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, two years of prohibition from media activities and cyberspace, two years of exit prohibition from the country, and a monetary fine. According to Hossein Ahmadinejad, his defense attorney, four charges were attributed to Mir Asmaeili: 'insulting officials and government and judicial agents in the course of their duties, insulting sacred beliefs and the pure Imams, spreading falsehoods with the intent to disturb public minds, and publishing materials contrary to public morality and decency.' A member of the Nishapur City Council was also sentenced to 'one year of prison and two years of suspended prison' for 'insulting the sanctity' of the third Imam of Shia Muslims. According to this report and citing an 'informed source,' this sentence has not yet been 'officially announced and is expected to be officially declared on Saturday.' Although the Young Journalists Club did not mention the name of this member of the Nishapur City Council, it has been stated on social media that his name is 'Reza Mehrdad.' This news agency reported that Mehrdad, in reaction to an Instagram post, 'insulted the sacred presence' of Imam Hussein, leading to a gathering and issuance of a protest statement by the 'Basij Association of Mourning and Religious Groups in Nishapur.' Reza Mehrdad wrote on September 16 of this year about one of the videos published by the mourning speaker Mahmoud Karimi on Instagram, saying, 'If there was no Hussein, how would you deceive the people like this?' His writing faced a very harsh reaction from Hezbollah forces in Khorasan Razavi, and even the Friday prayer leader of this city called for the suspension of this council member from his positions until his accusations were addressed.