Another Iranian journalist sentenced to jail term

Zeinab Kazemkhah

Zeinab Kazemkhah, Iranian literary reporter who formerly collaborated with the cultural and literary division of ISNA (Iranian Student News Agency), was sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term on top of four months in prison.

Radio Zamaneh literary and cultural division reports that Kazemkhah’s court took place on Sunday and in view of statements from the prosecutor’s office confirming her innocence, Judge Pirabbasi’s sentencing remains unprecedented.

Zeinab Kazemkhah was arrested in February when nine Ministry of Intelligence officials raided her home and took her to an unknown location.

Her charges were participating in the widespread street protests that followed the 2009 presidential elections challenging the legitimacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory.

Khazemkhah was released after one month but upon returning to work, director of ISNA fired her and accused her of being a “traitor.”

Zeinab Kazemkhah continued her collaboration with literary publications of Nafeh and Nameh Mehr. In the meantime, the prosecutor’s office had dropped the charges against her and she had even received a letter indicating her innocence.

Zeinab Kazemkhah’s arrest came at a time when hundreds of Iranian reporters and journalists issued an open letter urging the authorities to release the scores of journalists that had been incarcerated in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 elections.

Kazemkhah was a prisoner in the infamous Afsarieh Prison and she issued an investigative report revealing the mistreatment of inmates by prison authorities at this prison.