Iran’s judiciary has opened files against 300 Iranians accused of speaking with Iran International, the Manoto Network, or individuals affiliated with the two diaspora media sites, the judiciary reported on Saturday.
“So far, 300 members of these networks have been identified,” it said. “Investigations into these individuals have been placed on our agenda, indictments have been issued against them, and the cases of these 300 people have been referred to Branch 15 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court.”
The charges were said to include intelligence cooperation with the enemy; espionage for the enemy during wartime; moharebeh (waging war against God); efsad fel-arz (corruption on earth); encouraging and inciting people to violence and killing; destruction of public property; financing terrorism; propaganda activities against the people, against the Islamic system, and against Islam, in cooperation with the Zionist regime and the United States; and efforts to undermine and weaken Iran.
Some of the sentences are punishable by execution.
Tehran has often been accused of restricting reporting on the human-rights violations being carried out by the regime. According to the UN, that was one of the primary purposes behind the nearly three-month Internet blackout in Iran.
Tens of thousands of protesters were killed, and tens of thousands more were arbitrarily detained for assembling and demonstrating against the regime, human-rights groups reported.
Iranian authorities issue indictments against dissident media groups
Several weeks ago, Iranian authorities indicted dissident media groups, alleging they had encouraged the nationwide protests in January.
The news sites were accused of “creating the conditions” for the unrest, Tehran Prosecutor Ali Salehi said.
At that time, former Manoto editor-in-chief Tina Ghazimorad told The Jerusalem Post the move was politically motivated, claiming it was “not a legal act” but “political intimidation.”
Alex Winston contributed to this report.