The Prison Sentence of Eisa Saharkhiz Has Been Changed to 21 Months

The news and analytical website Zeytoon reported, citing an "informed source," that Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court has changed the prison sentence of Eisa Saharkhiz, a jailed journalist, to 21 months, and this ruling was communicated to one of his lawyers on Saturday. Mr. Saharkhiz had previously been sentenced to three years in prison by the same branch under the presiding judge Mohammad Mogheiseh for the charges of "insulting the leadership" and "propaganda against the regime." In this context, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, Eisa Saharkhiz's lawyer, reported on Tuesday, August 9, that his client was sentenced to two years in prison for "insulting regime officials" and one year for "propaganda against the regime." According to Zeytoon’s report, the court considered a part of Eisa Saharkhiz's prison memoirs, in which he referred to a place called "Casino Seyed Ali" in Rajai Shahr prison, as an instance of "insulting" the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Reports indicate that Mr. Saharkhiz has another open case for "insulting" the head of the judiciary in the Criminal Court of Tehran Province. Earlier, Mohsen Eftekhari, the head of the Criminal Courts of Tehran Province, announced that the "first political crime case" has been established with the referral of Eisa Saharkhiz's case to the Criminal Court of Tehran Province. The issuance of this ruling for Mr. Saharkhiz comes at a time when his lawyer has stated that his client "cannot endure imprisonment" and "the prison has also stated that it is not possible to keep him in prison." Eisa Saharkhiz was arrested in July 2009 following widespread arrests of journalists and was sentenced to three years in prison for "insulting the leadership and propaganda against the regime," from which he was released on October 3, 2013.