Iranian writer Shanbehzadeh sentenced to 12 years in prison after tweeting dot to supreme leader: NPR
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran, Iran, August 27.
Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader/AP
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Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader/AP
An Iranian writer and activist has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after replying with a full stop in response to a post on social media platform X by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hossein Shanbehzadeh, a longtime critic of Iran’s leadership, was active on social media, advocating for political prisoners and the removal of the mandatory hijab for women. He was imprisoned in 2019 for online comments insulting Khamenei. He later wrote about the experience, including beatenaccording to Voice of America.
In early June, Shanbehadeh, 35, was arrested in Ardabil, northwestern Iran. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio LibertyHe told his family he was not sure why he was arrested, but it happened shortly after he posted a response to Khamenei’s tweet, which featured an image of the Iranian leader standing next to the country’s national volleyball team.
The Islamic Republic’s security forces arrested an Iranian blogger, writer and editor, Hossein Shanbehzadeh, on Tuesday, who posted a single dot in response to a tweet by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last month, and that comment was liked far more than Khamenei’s original tweet.… photo.twitter.com/P4Bram1nr6
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) June 5, 2024
Shanbehzadeh’s post received more “likes” than Khamenei’s original tweet, according to Iran International English.
Shanbehzadeh is just the latest activist to be caught up in the government’s crackdown on critics. Iran watchers say the leadership has been uneasy about the high level of dissent in the country for some time. Artists, playwrights, directors and others have also been caught up in the crackdown and handed lengthy prison sentences. In late April, Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was sentenced to death for his anti-government videos.
Shanbehzadeh was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly carrying out pro-Israeli propaganda, four years for insulting the sanctity of Islam, two years for spreading false information online, and an additional year for anti-regime propaganda.
His lawyer, Amir Raisian, told the Shargh Network, a reformist newspaper in Iran, that he would appeal the sentence, especially the charge of pro-Israel activities. The Ardabil prosecutor’s office alleged that Shanbehzadeh had been in contact with Israeli intelligence officers and was arrested while trying to leave the country, according to Voice of America.
