This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/world/middleeast/iranian-arts-reporter-faces-2-years-in-prison-and-50-lashes.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Iranian Arts Reporter Faces 2 Years in Prison and 50 Lashes | Iranian Arts Reporter Faces 2 Years in Prison and 50 Lashes |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Marzieh Rasouli, an Iranian journalist who writes mainly about art and literature for reformist newspapers and her popular blog, “Three Days Ago,” was taken into custody on Tuesday at Evin Prison in Tehran to begin serving a two-year sentence for taking part in street protests in 2009 and publishing what the authorities called antistate propaganda. The verdict, which she learned about in a phone call on Monday, also calls for her to receive 50 lashes. | |
| Ms. Rasouli, who once worked for the Iranian Student News Agency, first shared the news with followers of her Persian-language Twitter feed in a message punctuated by a poignant emoticon echoed in many of the shocked reactions from her fans. | Ms. Rasouli, who once worked for the Iranian Student News Agency, first shared the news with followers of her Persian-language Twitter feed in a message punctuated by a poignant emoticon echoed in many of the shocked reactions from her fans. |
| In a final Twitter update before she surrendered to the authorities, Ms. Rasouli explained that she had been convicted of “propaganda against the establishment and disruption of public order through participation in gatherings.” | In a final Twitter update before she surrendered to the authorities, Ms. Rasouli explained that she had been convicted of “propaganda against the establishment and disruption of public order through participation in gatherings.” |
| She was initially arrested in January 2012, along with two colleagues, and detained for more than a month and interrogated about what was said to be her cooperation with BBC Persian, a channel staffed mainly by Iranian expatriates in London. She was later released on bail. | She was initially arrested in January 2012, along with two colleagues, and detained for more than a month and interrogated about what was said to be her cooperation with BBC Persian, a channel staffed mainly by Iranian expatriates in London. She was later released on bail. |
| BBC Persian has repeatedly stressed that it has “no staff members or stringers working inside Iran,” but its news broadcasts, offering an alternative source of information to state television, enrage hard-liners in the Islamic Republic. One of people initially detained with Ms. Rasouli was the sister of a BBC Persian journalist. | BBC Persian has repeatedly stressed that it has “no staff members or stringers working inside Iran,” but its news broadcasts, offering an alternative source of information to state television, enrage hard-liners in the Islamic Republic. One of people initially detained with Ms. Rasouli was the sister of a BBC Persian journalist. |
| Friends of Ms. Rasouli launched an anonymous online campaign to draw attention to her case when she was arrested two years ago. When she was released, her supporters wrote in a blog post that she had been accused of “cooperating not just with the BBC, but the British intelligence services.” | Friends of Ms. Rasouli launched an anonymous online campaign to draw attention to her case when she was arrested two years ago. When she was released, her supporters wrote in a blog post that she had been accused of “cooperating not just with the BBC, but the British intelligence services.” |
| Although the verdict against her did not refer to BBC Persian, instead concentrating on Ms. Rasouli’s writing and her participation in protests after Iran’s disputed presidential election in 2009, she was described at the time of her arrest as an agent of the BBC on state television and by a website run by the cyberdefense command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. | Although the verdict against her did not refer to BBC Persian, instead concentrating on Ms. Rasouli’s writing and her participation in protests after Iran’s disputed presidential election in 2009, she was described at the time of her arrest as an agent of the BBC on state television and by a website run by the cyberdefense command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. |
| The sentence, issued after a recent appeal hearing at which Ms. Rasouli was reportedly forbidden to speak, stunned and confused her friends who ran the campaign to win her freedom two years ago. There was no indication, they said in a joint telephone interview, why Ms. Rasouli was given such a harsh sentence while a fellow journalist and blogger who faced the same charges, Parastoo Dokouhaki, was sentenced to probation and barred from political activity. | The sentence, issued after a recent appeal hearing at which Ms. Rasouli was reportedly forbidden to speak, stunned and confused her friends who ran the campaign to win her freedom two years ago. There was no indication, they said in a joint telephone interview, why Ms. Rasouli was given such a harsh sentence while a fellow journalist and blogger who faced the same charges, Parastoo Dokouhaki, was sentenced to probation and barred from political activity. |
| Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has spoken of the need to relax restrictions on free speech, but the country’s judiciary remains dominated by conservatives who have pursued similar charges against other journalists. Although it was unclear whether Ms. Rasouli would be allowed to pay a fine instead of being whipped, news of the sentence dismayed supporters of reform. | Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has spoken of the need to relax restrictions on free speech, but the country’s judiciary remains dominated by conservatives who have pursued similar charges against other journalists. Although it was unclear whether Ms. Rasouli would be allowed to pay a fine instead of being whipped, news of the sentence dismayed supporters of reform. |
| Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, who founded reformist newspapers in the late 1990s during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami that were later banned, reported on his Facebook page last month that he had been barred from foreign travel and charged with “propaganda against the state” for remarks in recent interviews and speeches. | Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, who founded reformist newspapers in the late 1990s during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami that were later banned, reported on his Facebook page last month that he had been barred from foreign travel and charged with “propaganda against the state” for remarks in recent interviews and speeches. |
| Another journalist facing the same charges, Serajeddin Mirdamadi, has been held in Evin Prison since May 10, his lawyer told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran last week. | Another journalist facing the same charges, Serajeddin Mirdamadi, has been held in Evin Prison since May 10, his lawyer told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran last week. |
| As the Guardian correspondent Saeed Kamali Dehghan reported, Ms. Rasouli’s imprisonment follows the detention in recent months of a number of other Iranian journalists. They included Saba Azarpeik, who complained of harassment and intimidation of fellow journalists on her Facebook page, which disappeared after her arrest in May. | As the Guardian correspondent Saeed Kamali Dehghan reported, Ms. Rasouli’s imprisonment follows the detention in recent months of a number of other Iranian journalists. They included Saba Azarpeik, who complained of harassment and intimidation of fellow journalists on her Facebook page, which disappeared after her arrest in May. |