Sina Gholandari, Journalist in Kuhdasht Lorestan, Released on Bail

The Human Rights Campaign in Iran reported that Sina Gholandari, a journalist residing in Kuhdasht, Lorestan province, was detained for 18 days following a complaint by local officials and the influence of the representative of this county. According to the website, citing an 'informed source', the 32-year-old journalist was arrested on December 2 and released from Khorramabad Central Prison after 18 days 'after being charged with spreading falsehoods on bail'. The report stated that some local officials had filed a complaint against him after he launched a Telegram channel named 'Radio Lorestan' and exposed several cases of 'corruption and embezzlement'. According to this 'informed source', Gholandari is expected to appear in court in the coming days to respond to the charge of 'spreading falsehoods'. The source did not mention the names of the officials who complained about the journalist, but accused Allahyar Malekshahi, the conservative representative of Kuhdasht and head of the Legal and Judicial Commission of the Parliament, of using his influence in the judiciary to pursue and detain his critics, including Sina Gholandari. The report noted that 'any journalist and political activist' who has criticized Malekshahi has been arrested and imprisoned. Allahyar Malekshahi, head of the Legal and Judicial Commission of the Parliament, previously served as the head of the judiciary in the provinces of Kermanshah and Lorestan. Previously, several journalists in various provinces of Iran have been sentenced to lashes due to complaints from local officials. For instance, in 2014, the 102nd branch of the public court in Qazvin sentenced Khalil Emami and Abbas Alipour, two photographers from Qazvin, to 75 lashes for 'insulting' Mohammad Ali Hazratihas, the director general of cultural heritage in the province. It was later announced that the cultural heritage director had withdrawn his complaint. Khalil Emami and Abbas Alipour had criticized the publication of a photo book by Hazratihas, funded by the Qazvin municipality, in local media. On August 24, 2014, the ILNA news agency reported that Arad Ziyaei, the head of the Zanjan City Council, 'beat a journalist in response to his criticism'. In May 2012, Iranian media reported that Mahmoud Shekareh, a cartoonist for the 'Name Amir' publication in the central province, was sentenced to 25 lashes for drawing a caricature of Ahmad Lotfi Ashtiani, a representative from Arak in the eighth parliament. This news received widespread attention, and following protests, it was announced that the representative from Arak had withdrawn his complaint against Shekareh. According to Reporters Without Borders, Iran is considered one of the five prisons for journalists in the world.