Seyyed Kazem Delkhosh-Abatari

Seyed Kazem Delkhosh Abatari, the spokesman of the Judiciary and Legal Commission of the Iranian Parliament, has been involved in suppressing the media and journalists following the eruption of protests across Iran in 2022.

In an interview with Tasnim News Agency on 10 December 2022, he announced the approval of a plan by the Judiciary and Legal Commission of parliament to prosecute journalists and media outlets who publish the news not conforming to the official narrative of the Islamic Republic.

Underlining that the plan applies to all media and journalists, Delkhosh Abatari said: “severe punishment is provided for the individuals and media who spread fake news and rumors and disturb public opinion. This is to prevent them from perpetrating such acts; no one is allowed to invade society’s peace and tranquility by propagating lies and get away with it without punishment.”

The repression of journalists in Iran has intensified since the early days of the 2022 protests. Nearly 70 journalists have been arrested so far.

The 2022 nationwide protests in Iran broke out following the murder of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Islamic Republic’s Morality Police on 13 September 2022 and have continued in various forms in different cities for more than three months. According to reports by human rights organisations, at least 469 citizens, including 63 children and 32 women, have been killed by the law enforcement and security forces of the Islamic Republic.

"Parliament determines the punishment for the publishers of fake news in the cyberspace/ approval of the said plan in the judicial commission," Tasnim News Agency, 10 December 2022

The Islamic Republic Arrests Another Journalist, Iran International, 06 January 2023