Zam was found guilty of “corruption on earth,” a spokesman for the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Esmaeili, told reporters on Tuesday. The term does not specify a single crime, but it is a charge that the Iranian government sometimes uses in cases of alleged attempts to overthrow the government.
Zam, who had been living in France, was arrested last year. The circumstances of how and where he was detained are still unclear.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) claimed that the journalist had been “illegally kidnapped and arrested.”
Iran has accused Zam of working with American, French and Israeli intelligence that provided him with “open and covert” protection, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
After his arrest, the Iranian authorities posted a video of Zam in a car, wearing safety glasses. The video also shows him sitting in front of a camera, making an “apology” for his actions.
Iran has been “one of the world’s most repressive countries for journalists for the past 40 years,” with at least 860 citizen journalists and journalists jailed or executed since 1979, according to nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The country is ranked 173 out of 180 in RSF’s annual global press freedom ranking, three places lower than the previous year.
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