Two Journalists Sentenced to Over Four Years in Prison and Two-Year Travel Ban from Iran

The Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced two female journalists to "four years and three months in prison" on charges of "conspiracy and collusion and propaganda against the regime." Saideh Shafiei, a journalist, announced that in addition to this sentence, the Islamic Revolutionary Court has banned her and Nasim Soltanbeigi, who had previously been arrested, from leaving the country for two years and prohibited them from membership in groups. The court session for Saideh Shafiei, Nasim Soltanbeigi, and Mehrnoush Zarei Hanzaki was held on July 12. According to the ruling of Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Eman Afshari, Saideh Shafiei and Nasim Soltanbeigi were each sentenced to three years and seven months of prison for the charge of "conspiracy against national security" and eight months for the charge of "propaganda against the regime," while Mehrnoush Zarei Hanzaki was acquitted of these charges. Nasim Soltanbeigi was arrested on the night of January 21, 2023, by the Revolutionary Guard intelligence officers at the airport while attempting to leave the country and was transferred to Evin Prison, from which she was temporarily released on February 6 after posting bail until the end of the legal proceedings. Additionally, Saideh Shafiei, journalist and author of the books "Daughter of the Twists" and "Gurkhano Station," was arrested by security forces in Tehran on February 21 and was temporarily released on February 6 after posting bail of 500 million tomans until the end of the legal proceedings. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his latest report to the Human Rights Council of the organization, announced that between July 31, 2022, and April 15, 2023, more than 70 journalists, including 25 women, have been arrested, and 16 journalists are still in prison. Some of these detained journalists have received sentences ranging from 12 to 18 months in prison, have been banned from leaving the country, and their journalism activities have been revoked. A journalist residing in Iran previously told Voice of America that "pressures on the media in Iran" have "intensified significantly" following the nationwide protests in the second half of 2022, 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." The U.S. Department of State has called for the release of Iranian journalists who were "unjustly" detained in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of the morality police and in connection with the coverage of that incident. According to the latest report from Reporters Without Borders on media freedom published on May 2 of this year, Iran ranks 177th out of 180 countries worldwide. The International Federation of Journalists, while updating the list of imprisoned journalists in Iran, reiterated that journalism is not a crime and the Islamic Republic must release all imprisoned journalists and media activists.