Turbulent Days of Journalism in Iran; Trial of a Qom Journalist

With the holding of trials and the issuance of judicial sentences for journalists, a Tehran-based newspaper described these days as "turbulent days of journalism in Iran." Ali Pourtabatabai, a journalist from Qom, who operates under the username "Kheyzaran" on Twitter, announced on Monday, August 1, in a tweet that the first session of his trial on the charge of "spreading falsehoods" had been held, and he defended himself by presenting evidence. This journalist, who had previously been arrested for reporting on a series of poisonings that began in Qom and spread to other parts of Iran, stated that he was also accused of "communicating with foreigners" and "espionage," but during the court session, a "non-prosecution order was issued for this charge." Additionally, according to reports on Saturday, Behrouz Behzadi, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Etemad, was sentenced to "six months of prison" by Branch 9 of Tehran's Criminal Court 1 in a case brought by the Sarallah Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was later changed to "prohibition from any press responsibility for one year" based on "Clause 35 of the Press Law." On Saturday, August 1, news of Behzadi's conviction was published; "Behzadi was tried and sentenced to six months of prison by Branch 9 of Criminal Court 1 in Tehran due to a complaint from the Sarallah Headquarters. Ultimately, the court used the powers derived from Clause 35 of the Press Law to convert Behzadi's prison sentence into a prohibition from any press responsibility for one year." Behzadi described this ruling as "harsh" and "unconventional" in an interview with Shargh newspaper, emphasizing that "a journalist should perform their work away from political games." Furthermore, Marzieh Mahmoudi, the editor-in-chief of Tejarat News, recently announced that she has been convicted for the second time due to a complaint from Hamid Rasai, a hardliner figure of the Islamic Republic and a former member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. This journalist, who had previously paid a fine of six million tomans for Rasai's earlier complaint, has now been sentenced to pay 24 million tomans in fines and also one year of exile to Torbat Jam. Mahmoudi emphasized that she had tweeted Rasai's sentence quoting from Ham-Mihan newspaper and stated that "the audacity pales in comparison to him." She noted that during the trial, held in the "Government Employees Court," she learned that Rasai had "filed complaints against 22 other people for that sentence" and that "they apologized" while "several others expressed regret on their Instagram, Telegram, or Twitter pages, stating that they published that sentence due to a lack of sufficient political knowledge." According to this report, this journalist stated in court, "As a journalist, how can I say that I lack political knowledge or awareness?" Rasai also mentioned in court that his audience "was not women inside the country but women across the water." According to the latest report by Reporters Without Borders on media freedom published on May 2 of this year, Iran ranks 177th out of 180 countries worldwide. A journalist residing in Iran previously told Voice of America that "pressures on the media in Iran" have "intensified significantly" following nationwide protests in the second half of 1401, and the Islamic Republic's expectation from the media is "to produce propaganda bulletins," and due to "critical analyses," they are pressured under vague titles such as "blackening." Additionally, Amir Hossein Mirasmaili previously told Voice of America that independent journalists in Iran are "alone" and their activities are considered a "crime" by the Islamic Republic.