The Case of Telegram Channel Managers; 'My Husband is a Victim of the Dispute Between the IRGC and Intelligence'

The lawyer of several imprisoned Telegram channel managers has demanded an explanation from the judiciary regarding their status, while the wife of Mojtaba Bagheri, one of the detainees, stated that her husband has become a 'victim of the disputes between the IRGC's intelligence and the judiciary with the Ministry of Intelligence.' Ali Mojtahedzadeh, the lawyer for some of the imprisoned Telegram admins, expressed his confusion over the judiciary spokesperson's claim that the hunger strike of the Telegram channel managers is a 'rumor,' suggesting that the judiciary, which has access to the detainees, should clarify the situation. According to ILNA news agency, Mojtahedzadeh emphasized on Sunday, July 4, that based on family reports, Nima Keshvari is on hunger strike, while Saeed Naqdi has ended his hunger strike. He had previously announced that the court session for this case is scheduled for late August. In the last days of June, the Kaleme website reported that several managers of Telegram channels close to the government and reformists had gone on hunger strike after approximately 100 days of detention in protest against the handling of their case and their situation. According to this report, Nima Keshvari, Saeed Naqdi, Sobhan Jafari Tash, Javad Jamshidi, and Ali Ahmadnia are among the prisoners who have gone on hunger strike. These Telegram channel managers were arrested last December. However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the judiciary spokesperson, called the news of the hunger strike of the detained Telegram channel managers a 'rumor' on Saturday and announced that others must also be 'summoned' and 'investigated' in this case. Ejei had previously reported on June 10 that indictments had been issued for eight of these individuals and their case had been sent to court. Meanwhile, Masoumeh Parishi, the wife of Mojtaba Bagheri, wrote a letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, the head of the judiciary, the IRGC, and members of parliament, stating that her husband, despite being detained for over three months, has 'not been formally charged in a timely manner,' and his lawyer also 'does not have access to his case.' According to the Kaleme website, she emphasized in this letter that her husband has 'unjustly become the sacrificial meat of the disputes between the two intelligence branches of the IRGC and the judiciary with the Ministry of Intelligence.' Parishi also pointed out the investigating judge's remarks, stressing that her husband's accusation is not 'administering the supporters' channel of Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi,' but rather a 'long-standing close relationship stemming from friendship' with the Minister of Intelligence. Mojtahedzadeh, the lawyer for some of the detainees, also stated in an interview with the Jamaran website that the accusations against his clients are 'not legal and are more about political disagreements.' Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, criticized the detention of managers of several Telegram channels close to the government on April 21 and threatened to publish a report from the Ministry of Intelligence regarding this matter. Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, also stated that the government opposes the detention of Telegram channel managers. However, two days later, the judiciary spokesperson 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 on this case. On the same day, Mahmoud Alavi responded to this statement by saying, 'I do not know of any crime for the admins that I should be an accomplice to; it seems they are my accomplices. Defending the government is not a small crime.' Following this, Mahmoud Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, announced that one of the detainees was an admin of the Minister of Intelligence's Telegram channel. In addition to the Telegram channel managers, several journalists, including Morad Saghafi, Hengameh Shahidi, and Ehsan Mazandarani, as well as Ramin Karimi, a researcher and translator, have been detained in recent months. Reports indicate that Morad Saghafi has been released, while Hengameh Shahidi and Ehsan Mazandarani remain imprisoned, but no reports have been published regarding Ramin Karimi's status. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, June 30, Saeed Saif, the editor-in-chief of the 'Iran Watch' website, announced that his wife, Asal Ismailzadeh, a news photographer, has been detained. According to ILNA news agency, he stated, 'Although I was the accused in my own case, when I went to the prosecutor's office with my wife yesterday, the judge ordered her arrest.' Saif did not provide further details about the reasons for his wife's detention, but Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated on Saturday in response to a question that Ms. Ismailzadeh's accusation was 'collaboration' with one of the Persian-language websites outside the country.