Maryam Shakirani Fined; Insider to VOA: Criminal Record Being Created to Imprison Journalist

After Maryam Shakirani, a journalist, was sentenced to a fine of 6 million tomans for "spreading falsehoods on social media" regarding the reporting of the death of Armita Garavand, an informed source told VOA that this action is aimed at creating a criminal record for future imprisonment of journalists. Reza Shafakhah, Shakirani's lawyer, announced that the 6 million toman fine was issued by Branch 1058 of the Tehran Criminal Court, stating that this case was formed following "the reporting by my client regarding the death of Armita Garavand," a teenage girl who fell into a coma after being pushed by a hijab enforcer in the Tehran metro and later died. An informed source on Tuesday, March 5, regarding the issuance of the fine for Maryam Shakirani, said that judicial officials are creating criminal records with baseless accusations against journalists "to have the option to imprison journalists in future cases." According to this media source residing in Iran, who requested anonymity for security reasons, with such rulings, journalists in future cases "will not be subject to suspended sentences due to their criminal record," thus allowing judicial authorities to imprison journalists. Maryam Shakirani, the economic editor of Shargh newspaper, had been temporarily released on bail during the proceedings of this case, which was ongoing in Branch 16 of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office. In this case, the charges of "propaganda against the regime" and "spreading falsehoods" were attributed to this journalist, with the first charge being removed by the investigator after "presenting evidence of news republished from domestic media" by this journalist. On Tuesday, Maryam Shakirani announced that she was found guilty in Branch 1058 of the Tehran Criminal Court, stating on social media X: "Previously, this branch deemed my case outside its jurisdiction and referred it to Branch 9 of the Criminal Court for government employees or the Press Court, but the Press Court also declared lack of jurisdiction and sent the case to the appellate court for determination of the court. The appellate court returned the case to Branch 1058 of the Criminal Court. On March 1 at 10 AM, I appeared in this court with my lawyer Mr. Reza Shafakhah." The informed source also emphasized in the conversation with VOA that regarding the death of Armita Garavand, "the newspaper Etemad wrote a detailed report on November 29, but they were not allowed to publish it and were not permitted to inform about Armita." Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old girl, lost consciousness on October 1, 2023, after being pushed by a hijab enforcer at a metro station in Tehran, was taken to Fajr military hospital, fell into a coma, and died 28 days later. Although the Islamic Republic did not allow media inside Iran to report on how Armita was harmed and died, the news of her death received widespread coverage in global media, including Reuters, Associated Press, France, Deutsche Welle, and newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Following the death of this teenage girl, Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor of the White House, emphasized that Armita Garavand's death makes the U.S. more determined to hold the Islamic Republic accountable. The organization "Defending the Flow of Information" previously reported that the prosecution of Iranian journalists has increased by 40% in the past month. Pressure on journalists in Iran and the detention of some of them intensified with the onset of nationwide protests at the end of September 2022, and with the arrest of dozens of journalists and photojournalists in the latter half of last year, press freedom has increasingly been in jeopardy over the past 45 years. Previously, a journalist residing in Iran told VOA that the Islamic Republic's expectation from the media is "to produce propaganda bulletins," and journalists are pressured due to "critical analyses" with vague titles such as "blackening the image."