Four Months in Prison for Journalist Charged with 'Publishing a Telegram Message'

Hamed Ataei, a journalist associated with the controversial speech of Nader Qazipour, the representative of Urmia, has been sentenced to four months in prison for publishing a Telegram message regarding the potential disqualification of this representative in the tenth parliamentary elections. In an interview with Borna news agency on Wednesday, November 17, he suggested that the main motivation for the complaint against him might have been the publication of this film, but the complaint in the case is unrelated to the film's release. After the tenth parliamentary elections, a video was released showing the Urmia representative stating, 'The parliament is not a place for women; it is for men. Send women to the parliament so that they bring disgrace upon you.' Mr. Qazipour continued his remarks, which were met with applause from the audience, making derogatory sexual comments about several other individuals. According to Mr. Ataei, this complaint relates to a message on Telegram that referenced Mr. Qazipour's disqualification in previous parliamentary elections and speculated about his potential disqualification in the tenth parliamentary elections. Based on this report, Mr. Ataei has been accused of 'spreading falsehoods' due to this message. Nader Qazipour has not yet responded to this news. Regarding the potential connection between this complaint and the release of Mr. Qazipour's controversial speech, Mr. Ataei stated that Mr. Qazipour's real motive for filing the complaint could be this issue, but the release of this film 'has nothing to do with me.' He added, 'Although Mr. Qazipour attributes it to me, in any case, the complaint and the case currently being discussed are not about the film.' After the release of Mr. Qazipour's insulting remarks, many on social media called for the rejection of Mr. Qazipour's credentials in parliament, but his credentials were ultimately approved. A few days after the release of this film, the news analysis website Tabnak reported that Hamed Ataei, the 'publisher' of Mr. Qazipour's speech, was assaulted by 'unknown individuals' in the presence of 'his wife and children.' According to Mr. Mostafa Zadegan, the editor-in-chief of the Farhang Shams publication in Urmia, the incident 'occurred in front of a bank's camera, and the Urmia prosecutor's office is currently investigating to find the perpetrators.' However, no report has yet been published regarding the outcome of this case. In September, the 'assault' of Ehsan Badaghi, a journalist from Iran newspaper, by Mr. Qazipour following a question about the formation of the 'Caucus of Turkic Regions' led to protests from several journalists and members of parliament. However, the Urmia representative described the assault on this journalist in parliament on Tuesday, September 9, as a 'joke' and stated that he was in a hurry to reach a meeting and 'like a tractor' passed through everything in his way. Nader Qazipour, who has been the representative of Urmia in the eighth and ninth parliaments, was re-elected to parliament in the tenth elections with over 160,000 votes as the first elected representative of this constituency.