Iranian blogger Hossein Shanbehzadeh has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, of which he will spend 5 years in jail.
SHARGH newspaper, citing his lawyer, reports that Shanbehzadeh was charged with “pro-Israeli propaganda activities,” “sacrilege,” “spreading false news” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” These accusations were based on private correspondence and his social media posts, where he criticized the death penalty, the compulsory hijab and pressure on journalists.
Iranian authorities also claimed that the blogger rejoiced after the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash. Earlier in 2019, Shanbehzadeh had already been jailed for “sacrilege and insulting the leader of the Islamic Republic.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accused him of working for Israeli intelligence and trying to flee the country.
The blogger was arrested several weeks after posting a tweet with a dot under an official Iranian government post as a form of protest against the regime. This tweet received more likes than the original post from Ali Khamenei’s account. Shortly after, Shanbehzadeh’s X account was deactivated, but his name continued to trend, a testament to his influence and bravery in criticizing Iranian authorities.
“Shanbehzadeh’s X account also became inaccessible, likely deactivated to prevent abuse by security services. However, his name dominated X’s Persian language trends for hours, with users noticing his widespread influence and brave comments. [При обсуждении ареста] Some cited Shanbehzadeh’s criticisms, including revelations of brutal detention methods at Evin prison, suggesting his arrest was due to government dissatisfaction with his outspokenness,” Iran International said.
Earlier, Cursor reported the final results of the investigation into the Raisi helicopter crash incident.
