Six Telegram Channel Managers in Iran Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison

Reports indicate that six managers of Telegram channels close to reformists and the government of Hassan Rouhani have been sentenced to a total of 23 years in prison. Ali Mojtahedzadeh, a lawyer for several of the Telegram channel managers who were arrested last Esfand, told ILNA news agency that the six have been sentenced to a total of 23 years in prison. According to the report, Nima Keshvari and Ali Ahmadnia each received five years, Javad Jamshidi and Saeed Naqdi received four years, and Sobhan Jafari was sentenced to three years in prison. Mojtahedzadeh announced that these sentences have been communicated to the individuals, and Mojtaba Bagheri has also been sentenced to two years in prison, but has not yet received the sentence as he was not in Tehran. He also mentioned that 'it seems some of the defendants in this case have been deprived of certain social rights for two years.' These individuals can appeal the sentences, and the appellate court will make a decision regarding these sentences. Mojtahedzadeh also stated that this case is about 60 pages long, and for this reason, the lawyers have not yet managed to study it. No report has been published regarding the status of the court and the sentences of six other defendants in this case. Three sessions of hearings for the Telegram channel managers' case were held consecutively for three days starting from August 22 in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati. Twelve Telegram channel managers, identified by some media as reformist or government supporters, were arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organization and were released after about six months on bail of several hundred million tomans. These arrests prompted 30 members of parliament to ask the Minister of Intelligence for a report on the status of the detainees, the reasons for their arrests, the process of addressing their charges, and the reasons for their continued detention and uncertainty. In this context, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, criticized the arrests of several Telegram channel managers on April 21 and threatened to publish a report from the Ministry of Intelligence regarding this matter. Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, also stated that the government opposes the arrest of Telegram channel managers. However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, responded to these remarks by saying that there are 'issues concerning the Minister of Intelligence himself' in this case, and he cannot prepare a report about it. In response, the Minister of Intelligence stated: 'I do not recognize any crime for the admins that I should be complicit in; it seems they are my accomplices. Defending the government is not a small crime.' Subsequently, Mahmoud Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, announced that one of the detainees was the admin of the Minister of Intelligence's Telegram channel. Telegram is one of the most popular messaging apps in Iran, and according to officials, millions of people in the country use it. In recent years, judicial and security officials of the Islamic Republic have made significant efforts to block Telegram, but the Rouhani government has opposed the blocking of this messaging app. On January 18 of last year, Reza Salehi Amiri, the then Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, reported the closure of over 160,000 'corrupt channels' in cyberspace, which he claimed were engaged in 'heretical' and 'corrupt' activities. This is while many officials and institutions of the Islamic Republic, foremost among them the office of Ayatollah Khamenei, have an active presence in this information network. In recent years, international organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, have repeatedly condemned internet censorship and the repression of cyber activists in Iran.