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August 26, 2025 – Iran –
Iranian journalist Omid Faraghat, based in Karaj, was sentenced to three months in prison by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. The court ruled that his interviews with Persian‑language media outside Iran constituted “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, a charge he firmly denied.
The verdict comes after a separate court in Karaj acquitted him of similar charges, including propaganda and disturbing public opinion, highlighting inconsistencies between judicial rulings.
Faraghat’s sentencing is part of a broader and intensifying crackdown on journalists in Iran. Over the past years, the authorities have detained, summoned, or prosecuted reporters across diverse beats—from social issues and environmental reporting to political commentary.
According to monitoring by the Defending Free Flow of Information (DeFFI), Iranian journalists experienced at least 256 legal actions in 2024 alone, including 36 arrests and 11 prison sentences, amounting to nearly 70 years of combined sentences and over 110 lashes. Omid Faraghat was among those personally targeted, having been ordered to appear in court.
This isn’t Faraghat’s first encounter with judicial pressure. In 2024, a Karaj court earlier handed him a six-month prison sentence and a two-year publishing ban on similar propaganda charges; that sentence was later overturned by an appeals court.
The repeated targeting of journalists—even those whose work seems apolitical—reflects a broader climate of repression. Since the Mahsa Amini protests of 2022, authorities have extended charges to journalists covering social and cultural affairs, summoning and detaining reporters from environmental, architectural, and heritage beats.
Reference –
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