The editor-in-chief of Sharq newspaper was found guilty.

After the defense of Mehdi Rahmanian, the editor-in-chief of Sharq newspaper, the jury of the political courts unanimously found him guilty.

Shargh Network, which belongs to Shargh Newspaper, reported on Tuesday, November 2, that 84 percent of the public opposed requiring women to wear the hijab, citing a survey conducted with the participation of more than 12,300 people. Mehdi Rahmanian, the editor-in-chief of Shargh Newspaper, was summoned to court in November of this year for publishing Shargh Network's survey. The Judiciary News Agency emphasized in this regard that if the necessary documents and evidence are not provided, the Tehran Prosecutor's Office will file a criminal complaint against the media outlet.

Today, Monday, December 17, Akbar Nasrollahi, spokesman for the jury of political and press courts, said regarding Mehdi Rahmanian: "Mehdi Rahmanian's accusations of "publishing untrue material" are the subject of the Tehran prosecutor's complaint regarding the incorrect headline of 84 percent opposition to requiring women to observe the hijab on November 27, 1402. Mehdi Rahmanian accepted the error in the headline in his defense and announced that what was even more wrong was that foreign media wrote that 84 percent of respondents opposed the hijab, while 84 percent of Shargh's audience, in a poll conducted by this newspaper, opposed the statements of Ms. Zohra Sadat Lajvardi, Tehran's representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, regarding the impact of the possible law on chastity and hijab on the status of women's hijab, not the obligation for women to observe the hijab."

Regarding Mehdi Rahmanian's accusations and the political court's verdict, Akbar Nasrollahi added: "After hearing the defendant's defense, the jury unanimously found him guilty, and some members stated in their dissenting arguments that, based on the defendant's explanations, only 5 percent of the 12,000 respondents to the Sharq poll were opposed to the requirement of the hijab, not 84 percent."

Some members of the jury also stated that by searching for the keywords "hijab and the East" on Google, the false publication of this poll was the most frequent, and it continues to be exploited politically.

The court hearing the complaint of the Press Supervisory Board regarding the case of Mehdi Rahmanian, the editor-in-chief of Shargh newspaper, was held by Judge Karimi in Branch 9 of Criminal Court 1, and the result will be issued.