Iran’s Judiciary Sentences Journalists to Prison, Lashes While 26 Remain in Detention

Iran’s judiciary sentenced a photojournalist and a reporter each to extended prison sentences, while 26 other journalists have remained in police custody since mid-September, according to an unnamed correspondent on Iran writing for The New Arab. Reporter Vida Rabbani was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison after being found guilty of “conducting propaganda against the establishment” and “colluding against national security.” Award-winning photojournalist Aria Jafari was sentenced to seven years in prison, 74 lashes, and a two-year ban from leaving the country. They were both arrested in September, about a week after the outbreak of anti-government protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s modesty police after being detained for wearing her hijab incorrectly. Since the start of the protests, Iran’s security forces, judges, and judicial officials have mounted a heavy-handed crackdown on journalists in the Islamic Republic. Over 70 journalists have been arrested since the beginning of the demonstrations; many of the released journalists have left prison with a large bail and are waiting for the Islamic Revolutionary Courts’ final decisions regarding their cases, according to the report. Meanwhile, Iran’s judiciary has upheld the death sentence of an anti-government protester accused of violence. The confirmation of the death sentence last month by Iran’s Supreme Court was announced Monday by the judiciary’s Mizan news website. Mohammad Boroghani was convicted of stabbing an Iranian police officer “with the intent of killing him and sowing terror among citizens,” and of setting fire to the office of the governor of the northern Iranian city of Pakdasht, located 27 miles southeast of Tehran. In addition, reports on Sunday said that Iran’s judiciary sentenced 18-year-old Mehdi Mohammad Fard to death on charges of “corruption on earth” and “waging a war against God,” according to reports. Fard reportedly helped organize a protest rally in northern Iran on September 21, and later was arrested during a protest a month later. He was previously sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for his anti-government activity.