Iran executes a journalist

semi-official news agency I The SNA reported on 12 December that Tehran Revolutionary Prosecutorship announced Zam's execution by hanging. Human rights activists expressed outrage.

The execution comes days after Iran's court announced that the Supreme Court had upheld a death sentence against 47-year-old journalist. The international community strongly condemned the decision.

After confirming that the execution had been carried out, international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) tweeted that it was “angry with this new Iranian justice crime”, adding that the “body of this execution” was Iran's Supreme Leader, Ajatallah Ali Khamenei.

Zam was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in June. <x0)

He was sentenced for “corruption on Earth”, an indictment often filed in cases involving spies or attempts to overthrow Iran's government.

Zam's website, AmadNews and a channel he created on the popular Telegram text app, had informed people of the 2017 protests, which began because of economic hardship and spread throughout the country.

Protests present Iran's biggest challenge since mass unrest after elections in 2009 and set the stage for similar riots in November 2019. More than 20 people were killed during the riots, and thousands were arrested.

AmadeNews was suspended on the telegram in 2018, but later he continued his work by another name. Zam had lived and worked in Paris before being arrested in October 2019 under still unclear circumstances.

The troops of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) said they had “reflectible” activist in a complex “option”, but did not announce where the operation took place.

Zam, described as a highly controversial “Reporters Without Borders”, based in Paris, described as a highly controversial <x2figuricture in both Iran and the Iranian diaspora”, while publicly accepting the charges and offering forgiveness for his past activities.

He had earlier denied claims that he had sparked violence, but openly acknowledged that AmidNews's mission was to overthrow the government.

Iran regularly forces prisoners to confess publicly, often under compulsion or torture.