Three people have been sentenced to a total of 36 years in prison for their online activity on the Telegram messaging service.
Intelligence Ministry agents arrested the men, all in their early twenties, in summer 2016. All three were arrested for posting articles and cartoons that allegedly "insulted" the Islamic Republic. They have been named as Alireza Tavakoli, Mohammad Mehdi Zamanzadeh and Mohammad Mohajer.
Following their arrests and the arrest of a woman on similar charges, fears mounted over the safety and security of Telegram, which continues to be popular in Iran.
Abolghasem Salavati, who is known for handing down harsh sentences for media-related offenses, delivered the verdict against the three men on April 21 in a Revolutionary Court. He sentenced them for “insulting the sacred” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
The sentencing follows the arrest of 12 administrators working for reformist channels hosted on the popular messaging site in March.
Initially it was unclear who had ordered the recent arrests of the administrators, and some media and Iranian lawmakers pointed the finger at President Rouhani’s administration, and in particular, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi. But on April 5, Alavi announced that the government was not behind the arrests, and had not supported them. President Rouhani confirmed this on April 10. This led to verbal clashes between Iran’s judiciary and executive branches.
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