ALBAWABA - Iran has sentenced famous cyber activist Hossein Shanbezadeh to 12 years in jail, with five years to be served.
On Saturday, Shanbezadeh's lawyer, Amir Raesian, told "Sharq" that the court sentenced him to five years for "propagating in favor of Israel," four years for "insulting religious sanctities," two years for "spreading false information," and one year for "propaganda against the regime."
Iranian law requires that only the largest sentence be served among numerous sentences. Shanbezadeh will serve five years.
Raesian said, "The accusation of propaganda for Israel is baseless and only references the defendant’s private conversations."
The allegations included inflammatory social media statements and support for other political prisoners, which the authorities said an effort to "blackmail" the government during a delicate period. Shanbezadeh's usage of hashtags like "No to Execution," support for optional hijab, and criticism of Ebrahim Raisi were used against him.
Shanbezadeh, renowned for his frank and frequently sarcastic writings on X (previously Twitter), called his family in June to announce his imprisonment. Detained on the way to Ardabil.
Shanbezadeh trended on X's Persian-language section for hours after his detention. Many people believed the detention was revenge for a post that surpassed one of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's official accounts, with twice as many likes and over 100,000 views.
Shanbezadeh's imprisonment is apparently connected to his criticism of Evin Prison's hand amputation punishment. Many feel his vocal criticism caused his new legal issues.
Shanbezadeh edited Naguib Mahfouz's "Heritage and Death and Life with It" on X as "Ain Shakhr Editor" anonymously. His identification by Iran's security authorities led to his 2018 arrest on security accusations and solitary incarceration.
Shanbezadeh told X about having 80 lashes for "consuming alcohol," which drew notice after his temporary release in 1400 AH.
Later, the 28th branch of Tehran's Revolutionary Court sentenced Shanbezadeh to 5 years and 10 months, with 3 years and 6 months to be enforced, for "insulting religious sanctities," "insulting the Supreme Leader," and "propaganda against the regime."
Shanbezadeh was imprisoned July 9, 1401 AH. After almost 10 months, he tweeted on April 29, 1402 AH, that he had been pardoned, adding, "whether the Leader also received a pardon is another story."
