The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Association of Iranian Journalists spoke out against Iranian judicial authorities on January 31 after a Revolutionary Court ordered the flogging of two journalists.
A Revolutionary Court in Rasht, northern Iran, ruled that journalists Mustafa Barari and Arash Shoaa, who work for Gilan Noveen and Gilan No news websites respectively, should be punished by lashes following a complaint from a member of parliament over articles they published. Both were accused of “inaccurate reporting” and “spreading lies,” “insult” and “publication without a license.”
Another journalist received 40 lashes on 5 January in Najaf Abad after a court found him guilty of inaccurately reporting on police confiscation of motorcycles. In July 2016, an appeal court upheld a sentence against journalist Mohammad Reza Tathi, ruling that he should be punished to 459 lashes for “publishing lies.” The IFJ and Association of Iranian Journalists called on authorities to stop the practice of flogging.
In addition to the lashes, the journalists were sentenced to fines of $30,000 fine for the insult charge. Barari and Shoaa appealed the sentences.
Read more from the IFJ statement.
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