Prison for Journalist who Clashed with Politician

Journalist Hamed Ataee has been jailed after publishing a report about controversial parliamentarian Nader Ghazipour on Telegram. He was sentenced to four months in prison for “spreading lies.”

Ataee reported that parliament had questioned the credentials of Nader Ghazipour, a member of parliament from Urmia, and that he could possibly be removed from his position. Prior to this, in March, Ataee broadcast a video of an offensive speech by the politician, in which he said “parliament is not a place for jackasses” and that it was “no place for women.” He also said  the Islamic Republic was not created so that just "any jackal” could serve in parliament. He gave the speech soon after after his own re-election to parliament.

The video led to a widespread outcry against Ghazipour, and many people, including some voters from his district, appealed to parliament to reject his credentials and prevent him from taking office. Parliament rejected their appeals.

After the video went viral on Persian-language social networks, unidentified assailants physically attacked and injured Ataee.

Ghazipour did apologize for his remarks, though many people questioned the authenticity of the apologies. Since March, he has continued to deliver ethnic slurs and offensive remarks. Recently, he attacked a reporter from the official newspaper Iran after the journalist robustly challenged him inside the parliament building.

Following the article's publication on Telegram, Ghazipour filed a complaint against Ataee. The lower court found the journalist guilty and the appeals court upheld the verdict.

But Ataee claimed the verdict was unjust, and told the Ministry of Sport’s news site Borna News that that he had retracted the report about parliament’s rejection of Ghazipour soon after publishing it.