Four-Year Prison Sentence Issued for Reformist Telegram Channel Manager

The lawyer of Saeed Naqdi, one of the managers of reformist Telegram channels, announced that a four-year prison sentence has been issued for his client and stated that they will appeal this ruling within the legal timeframe. Nargess Naqdi told ILNA news agency on Tuesday, September 4, that the verdict for the managers of the Telegram channels was communicated to two of the case's lawyers on Sunday. According to this defense attorney, Saeed Naqdi, the manager of the Telegram channel supporting Rouhani, has been sentenced to four years in prison and two years of prohibition from activities in groups, media, and parties. This ruling was issued by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. The lawyer also mentioned that his client has a "gastrointestinal disorder" and has a surgical history, which led to a rupture due to the weakening of the internal abdominal wall during his five months of detention, and he underwent surgery last Thursday morning. He described his client as a "believer" in the Islamic Republic and expressed hope that "the judges of the appeals court will reconsider their ruling based on the defenses and legal documents." On September 8, Ali Mojtahedzadeh, the lawyer for several managers of Telegram channels who were arrested last December, told ILNA that six of them have been sentenced to a total of 23 years in prison. According to him, Nima Keshvari and Ali Ahmadnia each received five years, Javad Jamshidi and Saeed Naqdi received four years, and Sobhan Jafari received three years in prison. Three sessions of hearings for the accused managers of the Telegram channels were held from August 13 for three consecutive days in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati. Twelve managers of Telegram channels, identified by some media as reformist or government supporters, were arrested by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps last year and were released after about six months with bail amounts of several hundred million tomans. These arrests prompted 30 members of parliament to question the Minister of Intelligence, asking for a report on the status of the detainees, the reasons for their arrest, the process of handling their charges, the reasons for their continued detention, and their uncertainty. Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, also stated that the government opposes the detention of Telegram channel managers. Telegram is one of the most popular messaging platforms in Iran, and according to officials, millions of people in the country use it. Judicial and security officials of the Islamic Republic have made significant efforts to block Telegram in recent years, but the Rouhani government has so far opposed the blocking of this messaging app.