Saeed Pourheydar, Freelance
Medium:Internet
Charge:Anti-State
Imprisoned:January 4, 2015

The Iranian journalist and blogger Pourheydar was arrested in Tehran on January 4, 2015, about a month after he returned to Iran from the U.S., where he was living.

Pourheydar has written for numerous reformist outlets, including the dailies Hambastegi, Mardomsalari, and Sobh-e Emrooz and online website Radio Zamaneh, and has given interviews to foreign-based media, including BBC Persian, Voice of America, and Radio Farda, in which he is referred to as a journalist.

After Iran's contested presidential election in 2009, Pourheydar was arrested twice. In 2010, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced him to a five-year suspended prison term for "assembly and collusion with the intent to commit crimes against national security," according to reports.

In December 2010, Pourheydar left Iran and migrated to the U.S. In May 2011, he gave an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) about abuse and torture that he had undergone and witnessed as an imprisoned journalist in Iran. He also recorded testimony for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center in which he described the pressures he and other Iranian journalists faced, preventing them from reporting to the outside world what was taking place in the country.

Pourheydar returned to Iran in late 2014 and was arrested on January 4, 2015. He was charged with "propagating against the state," "insulting the supreme leader," and "publishing falsehood in cyber space." On August 3, 2015, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Pourheydar to five years in prison.

Iranian authorities have not revealed what alleged wrongdoing led to Pourheydar's arrest and conviction. However, Firouzeh Ramezanzade, his former wife, told CPJ she believes the charges stem from the interviews he gave to human rights organizations and Persian media in which he criticized the Iranian government.

Pourheydar was first held at Evin Prison and later transferred to Rajaee Shahr prison. He appealed the 2015 conviction. As of late 2016, CPJ was unable to determine whether an appellate court had ruled on his case.

The group Journalism Is Not a Crime, which reports exclusively on freedom of the press in Iran, on April 16, 2016, published a photograph of Pourheydar with his lips sewn shut. The organization report ed that Pourheydar had begun a hunger strike to protest his transfer to Rajaee Shahr prison, authorities' refusal to set bail, and the lack of clarity in his legal case.

On April 27, the London-based Manoto TV reported that Pourheydar's cellmates were worried about the decline in his health.

Disclaimer: © Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.