Tasnim: Seven Defendants in Telegram Channels Case Released on Bail

The Tasnim news agency has reported that seven out of nine defendants in the case of Telegram channel managers have been released on bail. The agency wrote on Thursday, August 4, that two of the defendants were released at the 'beginning' on bail, while five others were released in recent days. According to Tasnim, Ali Ahmadnia, the manager of the Telegram channel and website 'Eslahat News', has not secured bail and remains in prison. The report states that another defendant in this case has 'secured the issued bail and is likely to be released early next week.' The bail for the seven individuals was issued by Judge Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, with an amount of 500 million tomans. On July 28 of this year, Ali Mojtahedzadeh, the lawyer for the Telegram channel managers, announced that three of his clients had been released from prison by providing a 500 million toman bail. Mojtahedzadeh added that a similar bail had been issued for all defendants in this case, and if the remaining ones can secure this bail, they will be released. Earlier, Mojtahedzadeh had stated in an interview with the Jamaran website that the charges against his clients are 'not legal' and are more 'political'. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the Minister of Justice, announced on June 9 that 'it has been emphasized that their case should be dealt with as quickly and seriously as possible, and the investigating judge is diligently pursuing the matter.' According to some reports, the trial of these individuals, including Nima Keshvari, Saeed Naqdi, Sobhan Jafari Tash, Javad Jamshidi, and Ali Ahmadnia, is scheduled to be held from August 13 to 15 in the Islamic Revolutionary Court. These Telegram channel managers, identified by some media as reformists or government supporters, were arrested last December. These arrests prompted 30 members of parliament to question the Minister of Intelligence about 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. Meanwhile, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, criticized the arrests of the managers of several Telegram channels on April 10, threatening to publish the Ministry of Intelligence's report on the matter. Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, also stated that the government opposes the arrest of Telegram channel managers. However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, responded to these remarks by saying that there are 'issues concerning the Minister of Intelligence' in this case, and he cannot prepare a report on it. In response, the Minister of Intelligence stated that 'I do not recognize any crime for the admins that I could be complicit in; it seems they are my accomplices. Defending the government is not a small crime.' The social network 'Telegram' is one of the most widely used networks in Iran, with officials stating that 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 they have not succeeded due to government opposition. Meanwhile, many officials and institutions of the Islamic Republic, including the office of Ayatollah Khamenei, have an active presence on this information network. On January 18 of last year, Reza Salehi Amiri, the Minister of Culture, announced the closure of over 160,000 'corruption channels' in cyberspace; channels that, according to him, engaged in 'heretical' and 'corrupt' activities. On the other hand, the officials of the Islamic Republic have formed a 'Cyber Basij' with the collaboration of '18,000 people' to monitor users' activities in cyberspace in Iran. After the events of 2009, commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij Organization have repeatedly spoken about their intention to establish virtual headquarters to counter what they call the 'soft war of the enemy.'