Iran Condemns Journalist to Death over 2017 Protests

An Iranian court has sentenced a web-based journalist to death for allegedly inciting economic protests that engulfed the country in 2017. Ruhollah Zam ran a website and a messaging app-based channel, and was accused of promoting protests by announcing the times and locations. His platforms were also said to have featured material seen as embarrassing to top officials. On Tuesday, Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic’s judiciary system, announced that Zam had been convicted on an unspecified date of “spreading corruption on Earth,” a charge often invoked together with allegations of espionage or efforts to overthrow the government. The charge is considered a capital crime. Zam undertook the alleged activity in Paris and other European locations, saying he had fled Iran after being accused of working for foreign intelligence services. It appears that he returned in 2019, either by his own volition or, as claimed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, after being captured and brought back. The condemned man’s father is a Shi’ite cleric.