An Iranian court has sentenced a journalist to six months in prison and a two-year reporting ban for “publishing false information,” as reported by Iranian media.
The charge against Sara Massoumi is related to an online post about Armita Garawand, a teenage girl who died in October after a disputed incident on the Tehran metro, according to lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh, who spoke to the newspaper Shargh.
It is not immediately clear which post on X the lawyer was referring to, but Iranian media said Massoumi had questioned the official explanation of the teenager's death.
“Massoumi was sentenced to six months in prison and a two-year ban on practicing journalism after being convicted of publishing false information,” Shargh reported.
Garawand, a 17-year-old ethnic Kurd, died in the hospital on October 28 following nearly a month of intensive care after falling unconscious on the Tehran metro. CCTV footage aired on state television showed the unveiled teenager being taken off a train after fainting in a carriage.
[readmore url="https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/world/191218"]
Authorities claim she suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure and denied any “physical or verbal altercations” between her and other passengers. However, human rights groups have said the teenager was critically injured in an alleged assault by female members of Iran's morality police.
Iranian journalist Maryam Lotfi was briefly arrested after visiting the hospital to report on Garawand's condition, as reported by Shargh at the time.
Authorities also arrested prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh as she attended Garawand's funeral on October 30. She was released around two weeks later.
Garawand's death occurred more than a year after the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly breaching Iran's strict dress code for women.
The death of 22-year-old Amini sparked months-long demonstrations that saw hundreds of people killed, including dozens of security personnel.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
The charge against Sara Massoumi is related to an online post about Armita Garawand, a teenage girl who died in October after a disputed incident on the Tehran metro, according to lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh, who spoke to the newspaper Shargh.
It is not immediately clear which post on X the lawyer was referring to, but Iranian media said Massoumi had questioned the official explanation of the teenager's death.
“Massoumi was sentenced to six months in prison and a two-year ban on practicing journalism after being convicted of publishing false information,” Shargh reported.
Garawand, a 17-year-old ethnic Kurd, died in the hospital on October 28 following nearly a month of intensive care after falling unconscious on the Tehran metro. CCTV footage aired on state television showed the unveiled teenager being taken off a train after fainting in a carriage.
[readmore url="https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/world/191218"]
Authorities claim she suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure and denied any “physical or verbal altercations” between her and other passengers. However, human rights groups have said the teenager was critically injured in an alleged assault by female members of Iran's morality police.
Iranian journalist Maryam Lotfi was briefly arrested after visiting the hospital to report on Garawand's condition, as reported by Shargh at the time.
Authorities also arrested prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh as she attended Garawand's funeral on October 30. She was released around two weeks later.
Garawand's death occurred more than a year after the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly breaching Iran's strict dress code for women.
The death of 22-year-old Amini sparked months-long demonstrations that saw hundreds of people killed, including dozens of security personnel.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
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