The Iranian government’s execution of dissident journalist in exile has sparked strong international condemnation.
Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam was arrested by Iran in 2019, after spending two years in exile in France. He was subsequently found guilty of inciting violence during anti-government protests in 2017 and sentenced to death.
Iran’s state-run television said Iran’s Supreme Court previously upheld Zam’s death sentence and that Zam was executed on Saturday (Dec. 12).
Zam, the director of the “counter-revolutionary Amadnews, was hanged this morning,” the state-run TV station said.
French and international human rights groups have strongly condemned the Iranian Supreme Court’s decision. Reporters Without Borders tweeted, “Reporters Without Borders expresses its outrage at this new crime against the Iranian justice system and believes (Supreme Leader) Khamenei is the architect of this execution.”
Amnesty International was “shocked and horrified” by Iran’s actions. In a statement, the organization said, “We call on the UN Human Rights Council and members of the international community, including EU member states, to take immediate action to pressure the Iranian authorities to stop their increasing use of the death penalty as a weapon of political repression.”
Zam is the son of an Iranian Shiite pro-reform cleric who previously fled to France for refuge. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in October 2019 that they had entrapped Zam in “a complex operation using intelligence deception,” but did not disclose the location of the operation.
Some Iranian media said last week that Zam traveled to Iraq in 2019, was detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards agents and taken to Iran.
Recent Comments