Journalist Sentenced: Marziyeh Amiri Condemned to 10 Years and 148 Lashes
Marziyeh Amiri, a detained journalist for the newspaper Shargh, has been sentenced by Judge Mohammad Moghisseh to (10 years and six months imprisonment) and (one hundred and forty-eight lashes). This severe sentence was conveyed to her lawyer two weeks after her trial. Marziyeh Amiri was arrested on the 11th of Ordibehesht (International Workers’ Day) when she went to cover labor protests and was taken to Evin Prison. According to her lawyer, this journalist has been charged with “11 counts” for this reason.
Arash Doulatabadi, her lawyer, said on the fourth of Shahrivarmaah regarding his client’s verdict to Borna News Agency, stating that he cannot refer to details of the case, that this journalist was primarily pursued for “activity on social networks such as Twitter and Telegram” and in total eleven charges were brought against Ms. Amiri.
This lawyer further said: “Marziyeh Amiri, as a reporter for Shargh newspaper, was present in Baharestan Square on International Workers’ Day, where she was arrested and a bail order was issued against her on charges of disturbing public order. Since she had an open case from before, an order was issued and ultimately she was moved to temporary detention, with charges being added to it.” This lawyer did not specify the detailed charges, but it had previously been stated that Ms. Amiri’s charges include “actions against national security,” “propaganda against the system,” and “disruption of public order.”
Arash Doulatabadi, protesting against his client’s verdict and continuing, said: “These sentences issued for students, critics and journalists are not befitting of the judicial system, nor are they in the interest of our system. As Ms. Amiri herself declared in her interrogations that she believes in the system’s foundations and has criticisms and objections within that framework.”
For the first time, Samira Amiri, the sister of this journalist, on Saturday the second of Shahrivarmaah, published the news of the verdict being announced on her Twitter: “Marziyeh was sentenced to two hundred and forty-eight lashes and a total of ten and a half years imprisonment, six years of which are enforceable. #Marziyeh_Amiri #Workers_Day_Detainees”
Marziyeh Amiri, an economic section journalist of Shargh newspaper and a social sciences student at Tehran University, has now been in temporary detention for more than three months. Ms. Amiri was arrested on the 11th of Ordibehesht in 1398 during the day of protests.
Marziyeh Amiri’s trial was held on the 22nd of Mordadmaah in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Mohammad Moghisseh. Arash Doulatabadi, Ms. Amiri’s lawyer, two days after the trial on the 24th of Mordadmaah in a conversation with Ensaf News Agency said that the evidence against her was collected at a time when Ms. Amiri was “in a special situation” and at that stage she was deprived of having a lawyer. This lawyer said that since the court’s focus was mostly on issues of the preliminary investigation case of his client: “We asked the court to pay more attention to our defenses in the trial session rather than matters that were gathered during the preliminary investigation phase and without the presence of her lawyer and under special circumstances that she had.”
Arash Doulatabadi, stating that his client was kept separately during confession and did not even have access to a lawyer, said: “Marziyeh Amiri was in various cases ‘under separate supervision from others,’ and this means she did not even have proper conditions for confessing against herself, therefore this applies to other prisoners who testified against her.”
This lawyer also spoke about the value of relying on others’ confessions against the accused in judgment: “In law, the defendant’s own statements are only admissible under natural conditions; that is, for a confession to be made, there must be natural conditions. In this regard, the accused can only confess against himself under special conditions for this confession to be admissible.”
Gholamhossein Esmaili, spokesman for the Judiciary, about 20 days after the arrest of “Marziyeh Amiri,” characterized her charges as security-related and regarding Marziyeh Amiri not being allowed to meet with a lawyer said: “A criminal act in the field of security has been attributed to her, and in this regard, not every lawyer can practice law.”
Esmaili’s reference is to the note of Article 48 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, according to which in security crimes during preliminary investigation phases, defendants must choose their lawyers from the list approved by the judiciary, effectively depriving them of the right to freely choose a lawyer.
Marziyeh Amiri suffers from epilepsy, and her lawyer in another conversation had said that because of this disease he had repeatedly requested her temporary release until the issuance of the final verdict, but for unclear reasons this request was not granted.
On the second of Shahrivarmaah, not only was Marziyeh Amiri’s verdict announced but also the verdict of Kiumars Marzban, satirist and press writer. However, the status of Noshin Jafari, a cinema and theater photographer, remains unclear since her arrest, and her family has been unable to visit her. Currently, several other journalists are in prison with similar charges. Hengameh Shahidi, with a sentence of 9 years and three months imprisonment, and Masoud Kazemi with a sentence of four and a half years imprisonment, two years of which are enforceable, are serving their sentences in Evin Prison.
Widespread Reactions to the Strange Sentence of a Journalist
Saba Azarpik, addressing Ibrahim Raisi on her Twitter account, wrote: “Mr. #Raisi, I hope you do not make the mistake of Mr. Sadegh Larijani: ‘disregard for public opinion’ Marziyeh_Amiri is an economic reporter to us who went to cover the Workers’ Day ceremony and was arrested and now six years in prison! This means injustice. Do you have other explanations or is this the narrative? #PublicOpinion”
Zahra Alvandi, a reporter, also wrote on her Twitter: “I wish the judge of the #Samin_AlHajaj case had also judged the #Marziyeh_Amiri case! Launching an unauthorized financial institution with multiple branches throughout the country, granting 848 instances of facilities worth 50 trillion rials to one person and 4,400 billion tomans of debt to depositors, are just a small part of Mir Ali’s crimes.” A user named Golden Breed wrote on Twitter: “Thank God the news mentioned Kiumars Marzban is a satirist and Marziyeh Amiri is a journalist, otherwise we would have worried that, God forbid, they weren’t embezzlers, economic corruptors, or assaulters that received such a heavy sentence!” Atieh Amiri wrote on her Twitter: “Yesterday I thought so much about Mahdi Hajeati, Farhad Meysami, Nasrin Sotoudeh and Marziyeh Amiri, I asked myself so many times, does the young generation know why these people are in prison? Or have they even heard their names? That I had nightmares until morning and I’m drawing escape plans for each of them in my prison.” Zahra Tohidi, a political science student, wrote on her Twitter: “Are we supposed to be intimidated by the sentence of more than 10 years imprisonment for #Marziyeh_Amiri and the sound of cries from the pressure of detention #Noshin_Jafari and… yes, they are really scary. Those who have no principles to gain, maintain and display power, are scary. Neither human nor legal nor religious principles. P.S.: But before us, you in the core of power must fear each other.” Another user named Zwie Glass wrote on his Twitter: “Whatever we write about the verdicts of Kiumars Marzban, Marziyeh Amiri and others is insufficient. The problem is that we don’t know what to say. We don’t know what to write. What can even be said? We have nothing but a deep sigh, a great regret, and a loud cry.” Another user named Alireza Wafen wrote on his Twitter: “It’s funny how every protest against an unjust and terrible situation is related to espionage! I’m fed up with this situation. North Korea is not even this chaotic. God, who cursed this cat-shaped earth? #Marziyeh_Amiri”
Source: Human Rights Campaign
