Pressure on Journalists in Iran; Two More Journalists Imprisoned in Evin

Nasim Soltanbeigi and Saideh Shafiei, two journalists sentenced to prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, have been summoned to Branch 1 of Evin's execution office to serve their sentences. Economic journalist Saideh Shafiei wrote on social media platform X on Sunday, November 21, that she has been summoned to serve three years and six months in prison and must report to Evin Prison on Tuesday, November 23. The husband of this journalist also tweeted that the request for retrial for Nasim Soltanbeigi and Saideh Shafiei has been rejected by the Supreme Court, and these two journalists must report to Evin Prison themselves. The sentences issued in the first instance court for these two journalists were confirmed in Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals, and accordingly, each was sentenced to three years and six months for the charge of conspiracy and seven months and 16 days for the charge of propaganda against the regime. According to Hassan Homayoun, Saideh Shafiei's husband, the basis for these charges was 'journalistic reports on poverty, discrimination, and inflation.' According to the ruling of the first instance court, namely Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, Saideh Shafiei and Nasim Soltanbeigi were each sentenced to four years and three months in prison and two years of travel ban for 'conspiracy against national security' and 'propaganda against the regime.' They have also been banned from membership in groups. Pressure on journalists in Iran intensified with the onset of nationwide protests at the end of September 2022, and with the arrest of at least 73 journalists and photojournalists in the second half of last year, press freedom has increasingly been in jeopardy over the past 45 years. According to the latest report by Reporters Without Borders on media freedom published on May 3, 2023, Iran ranks 177th among 180 countries worldwide. A journalist residing in Iran previously told Voice of America that 'pressures on the media in Iran' have 'intensified significantly' following the nationwide protests in the second half of 2022, and the Islamic Republic's expectation from the media is 'to produce propaganda bulletins,' and due to 'critical analyses,' they are pressured under vague titles such as 'blackening.'