Four Journalists Convicted of Criticizing Water Cuts in Shahroud Sentenced to Prison and Fines

In Shahroud, four journalists named Mahdi Ameri, Reza Zolfeqari, Mohammad Hossein Nademi, and Mostafa Sharif have been sentenced by the criminal court to a total of 19 months in prison and payment of 58 million rials in fines.

The International Federation of Journalists announced on Monday, March 23, in a report that these four journalists were tried in branch 104 of the criminal court of this county following a complaint by the Shahroud governor after they published a critical report regarding the governor’s handling of water cuts in the summer of last year.

According to the report, the court session was held on Wednesday, March 18, and based on the issued ruling following the Shahroud governor’s complaint, Mahdi Ameri was sentenced to 19 months in prison, Reza Zolfeqari and Mohammad Hossein Nademi to payment of 18 million rials in fines, and Mostafa Sharifi to payment of 40 million rials in fines.

Based on the issued ruling, only 13 months of Mr. Ameri’s prison sentence will be enforceable, and half of Mostafa Sharif’s 40 million rials fine has been suspended for two years.

It should be noted that these journalists managed the Telegram channels “Shahroudnews,” “Shahroud Channel,” “Jarchi,” and “Shahroud Virtual Activists Association.”

The U.S. State Department in part of its annual report on the status of human rights in the world, published on March 11, 2020, addressed the role of the Iranian regime in creating restrictions for media, arresting journalists and reporters, and extending harassment to families of journalists working outside the country.

In this report, the U.S. State Department addressed the conviction of Masoud Kazemi, editor of the monthly magazine Sedaye Farsi, to four and a half years in prison, harassment and threats against families of Iranian journalists working outside the country, and the arrest of Marzieh Amiri, journalist of Shargh newspaper.

Source: Voice of America