Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a gathering with the President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 27.
Workplace of the Iranian Supreme Chief/AP
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Workplace of the Iranian Supreme Chief/AP
An Iranian author and activist has been sentenced to 12 years in jail after replying with a single dot, or interval, in response to a submit on the social platform X by Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hossein Shanbehzadeh, a longtime critic of Iran’s management, was lively on social media, supporting political prisoners and the removing of obligatory headscarves for ladies. He was despatched to jail in 2019 for his on-line feedback insulting Khamenei. He later wrote concerning the expertise, together with being flogged, in response to Voice of America.
In early June, 35-year-old Shanbehadeh was arrested in Ardabil, northwestern Iran. In keeping with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, he informed his household he wasn’t positive why he was arrested, however it got here shortly after he posted the response to Khamenei’s tweet, which confirmed the Iranian chief with the nation’s nationwide volleyball staff.
The Islamic Republic’s safety forces on Tuesday arrested Iranian blogger, author and proofreader Hossein Shanbehzadeh who, final month, posted a single dot in reply to Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei’s tweet, and that remark was favored way over Khamenei’s unique tweet.… pic.twitter.com/P4Bram1nr6
— Iran Worldwide English (@IranIntl_En) June 5, 2024
Shanbehzadeh’s submit acquired way more “likes” than Khamenei’s unique tweet, in response to Iran Worldwide English.
Shanbehzadeh is simply the most recent activist to be caught up within the hard-line authorities’s crackdown on critics. Iran watchers say the management has felt insecure concerning the excessive degree of dissent within the nation for some time. Artists, playwrights, administrators and others are additionally being swept up and given lengthy jail sentences. In late April, Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was handed the demise sentence for his antigovernment movies.
Shanbehzadeh was sentenced to 5 years for alleged pro-Israel propaganda exercise, 4 years for insulting Islamic sanctities, two years for spreading lies on-line and an extra 12 months for anti-regime propaganda.
His lawyer, Amir Raisian, informed Shargh Community, a reformist newspaper in Iran, that he would attraction the decision, particularly the accusation of pro-Israel exercise. The prosecutor’s workplace in Ardabil alleged that Shanbehzadeh had been in touch with Israeli intelligence officers and was arrested when making an attempt to depart the nation, in response to Voice of America.