Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh, Crime: Journalism

Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh spent 54 days in solitary confinement before being released on furlough. He is currently working as a journalist for the Tadbir news site.

Name: Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh

Career: Journalist; editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper; on the editorial board for Jomhouriat news site and supervisor at Azad University documentation center.

Charges: Propaganda against the regime, actions against national security during the setting up of the Jomhouriat website and spreading falsehood.

Security forces arrested Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh on August 4, 2009 at the Farhikhtegan newspaper headquarters, where he was editor-in-chief at the time. The police searched the premises and confiscated some of his belongings. Security forces had also searched his home prior to the arrest.

Nourbakhsh spent 210 days in detention — 54 of which were in solitary confinement.

He was tried at Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati, who sentenced him to six years in prison. However, after he successfully appealed the verdict, Judge Zargar reduced his sentence to three years. Two years of this sentence were associated with his participation in a protest rally during the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election.

His sentence began on January 12, 2010 but he was released on furlough and bail on March 2 of that year. His furlough was renewed every week until his prison term was over.

Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh has since resumed his journalistic activities and is currently the managing editor of the Tadbir news site.

This is part of IranWire’s series Crime: Journalism, a portfolio on the legal and political persecution of Iranian journalists and bloggers, published in both Persian and English.

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