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Iran has executed Ruhollah Zam, a dissident accused of inspiring nationwide protests in 2017 through his high-profile Telegram channel, according to state-controlled media.
Zam, 47, had been living in exile in France until 2019, when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed him. lured him back to the country and arrested him.
The IRGC also took control of its popular anti-government channel Telegram, which at its peak had approximately 1.4 million subscribers exchanging stories and opinions in opposition to the country’s clerical regime.
Zam said he had lost about 30 kg since his arrest.
He had been sentenced to death in June after being convicted of “corruption on Earth,” a charge often used in Iran in cases involving espionage or threats to overthrow the Iranian government.
France criticized his sentence as “a severe blow to freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Iran.”
The popular Telegram channel and Zam website were used to spread information about the protests in 2017, including their hours and location, as well as to share embarrassing information about officials within the country’s regime.
In a message broadcast on Iran’s state television last year, the IRGC claimed that its agents had captured him as part of a “complex operation using intelligence deception.”
He was based in France at the time of his arrest. It is unclear how the IRGC lured him into Iranian jurisdiction to arrest him, but in a statement it described him as “led to the country.”
Zam appeared in a series of televised confessions throughout this year.
In these appearances, he apologizes for his past activities and appears to weigh significantly less than in the photographs taken before being detained by the IRGC. In July, he said he lost 30 kg (4.7 stones) since his arrest.
The IRGC described Mr. Zam as a major contributor to “the enemy’s media network” that was waging “psychological warfare” and alleged that he was connected to intelligence services in France, Israel and the United States.
Zam said he had fled Iran after being falsely accused of collaborating with foreign intelligence services and denied inciting violence on Telegram.
Six protesters were killed during an attack on a police station in the city of Qahderijan
Dozens of people were killed during widespread protests in Iran during the new year 2017-18.
Following the protests, the Tehran authorities blocked Iranians’ access to Instagram and Telegram, despite President Hassan Rouhani’s promise to leave “room for legal criticism” of the regime.
“Social media serves as important platforms for Iranians to discuss political, social and cultural issues; and mobile applications are rapidly developing for business start-ups,” according to the Iran Center for Human Rights.
Kaveh Azarhoosh, a principal investigator for Small Media, a nonprofit organization focused on information sharing in the Middle East, told Sky News at the time that the IRGC had posted on the Telegram channel after seizing him.
He said there was a “risk that [the IRGC] it could use it to contact innocent Iranians and lure them into false confessions or incriminating statements. “
Mahsa Alimardani, a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute who is investigating Telegram’s impact on political communications in Iran, told Sky News that the seizure of the channel was a propaganda coup for the IRGC.
“It is not clear what the impact of Amad News was in mobilizing dissent during the 2017-18 protests, but the truth is that it is an anti-regime platform, a source of viral and sensational content,” he said.
Counter-protesters held ‘Down with America’ banners
“It is easy for the Iranian authorities to blame a massive national protest movement on the nefarious intentions of a figure like Zam, who is now being forced to confess ‘crimes’ on Iranian television,” added Ms Alimardani, who also performs investigations for the human rights organization. ARTICLE 19.
“Ruhollah Zam is a significant figure,” he said.
“He is the son of a mid-level Iranian cleric, and he was able to tap into internal sources to access secret documents on national security and corruption, which helped fuel accusations against key figures within the regime such as the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.”
“It is not clear how the IRGC captured him, but the way the IRGC took control of the channel and began publishing about his arrest, and the subsequent television coverage of his arrest and confessions, is important public relations for them.”
