Iran sentences reporter to six months over 'false' content

An Iranian court has sentenced a journalist to six months in prison and a two-year reporting ban for "publishing false information," Iranian media reported.

The charge against Sara Massoumi related to an online post about Armita Garawand, a teenage girl who died in October after a disputed incident on the Tehran metro, lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh told reformist newspaper Shargh.

It was not immediately clear which post on X the lawyer was referring to but Iranian media said Massoumi had questioned the official explanation of the teenager's death.

"Massoumi was sentenced to six months in prison and a two-year ban on practising journalism after being convicted of publishing false information," Shargh said.

Garawand, a 17-year-old ethnic Kurd, died in hospital on October 28 following nearly a month of intensive care after falling unconscious on the Tehran metro.

CCTV footage aired on state television showed the unveiled teenager being taken off a train after fainting in a carriage.

Authorities say she suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure and denied any "physical or verbal altercations" between her and other passengers.

But human rights groups have said the teenager was critically injured in an alleged assault by female members of Iran's morality police.

Branch 26 of the 🇮🇷 Revolutionary Court sentenced on 20/12 @SaraMassoumi of @IRDiplomacy to 6 months in prison and a 2-year ban on journalism. Dozens of journalists have been detained in #Iran since the death of #MahsaAmini in 2022. This ferocious repression must stop. pic.twitter.com/3MrjWePCzM

— RSF (@RSF_inter) December 21, 2023

Iranian journalist Maryam Lotfi was briefly arrested after visiting the hospital to report on Garawand's condition, Shargh reported at the time.

Authorities also arrested prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh as she attended Garawand's funeral on October 30. She was released around two weeks later.

Garawand's death took place more than a year after the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly breaching Iran's strict dress code for women.

The death of 22-year-old Amini sparked months-long demonstrations which saw hundreds of people killed including dozens of security personnel.