Iranian Journalist Masoumi Handed Prison Term over Tweet

Iranian authorities have sentenced journalist Sara Masoumi to six months in prison and a two-year ban from practicing journalism for "publishing false information." 

The sentence was issued by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court on December 20, Masoumi's legal representative, Ali Mojtahedzadeh, told the Shargh newspaper. 

Mojtahedzadeh said that the accusations against his client included "publishing a tweet about Armita Geravand," a 16-year-old girl who died in October after being assaulted at a Tehran metro station for not wearing a mandatory headscarf.

"Unlike many journalists whose cases were transferred to the prosecutor's office after the death of Armita Geravand, Masoumi's case was referred directly to the Revolutionary Court," Mojtahedzadeh said.

Maryam Shokrani, Shargh’s economic editor, and Milad Alavi, a reporter at the same newspaper, faced summons for publishing or republishing news from domestic media concerning Geravand.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a media freedom NGO, Iranian authorities have arrested at least 95 journalists since September 2022, when the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini sparked nationwide protests.