Nasim Soltanbeigi, Journalist, Imprisoned for the 'Fifth Time'

Nasim Soltanbeigi, a journalist, was imprisoned on Tuesday, November 21, to serve a three-and-a-half-year sentence for the 'fifth time.' In her last note on Instagram, she reported on 'fabrication of cases,' 'rejection of retrials,' and 'pressure' from government institutions to send her to prison. Soltanbeigi mentioned her arrest while attempting to leave the country for Sweden in January 2023, stating, 'In 10 months, they managed to fabricate a case against me, obtain a three-and-a-half-year sentence from the court, confirm it on appeal, reject my retrial, and pressure me to report to prison.' According to the journalist, she was transferred to 'Ward 2-A of the IRGC Intelligence and Evin Prison' after her arrest last year. On July 3 of this year, she was summoned to Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court to face charges of 'conspiracy and collusion to commit crimes against internal/external security' and 'propaganda against the regime.' In her last Instagram note on Monday, November 20, she expressed hope for a day when 'the cage will be empty of captive little birds,' stating that she would report to prison at 10 AM on Tuesday to serve her sentence. Meanwhile, Maryam Kian-Arthi, her lawyer, described the prison conditions as exacerbating her client's illness and stated that 'the responsibility for my client's health lies with the authorities and the executioners of the punishment.' Saideh Shafiei, another journalist, also reported to Evin Prison on November 14 to serve a three-and-a-half-year sentence on similar charges. Pressure on journalists in Iran intensified following widespread protests that began at the end of September 2022, with at least 73 journalists and photojournalists arrested in the latter half of last year, leading to a further decline in press freedom over the past 45 years. According to the latest report from Reporters Without Borders on media freedom published on May 2, 2023, Iran ranks 177th out of 180 countries worldwide. A journalist residing in Iran previously told Voice of America that 'pressures on the media in Iran' have significantly increased following the widespread protests in the latter half of 2022, and the Islamic Republic's expectation from the media is 'to produce propaganda bulletins,' while they face pressure due to 'critical analyses' under vague titles like 'blackening.'