Kasra Nouri, Majzooban-e-Noor
Medium:Internet
Charge:Anti-state
Imprisoned:March 14, 2012

Nouri, a reporter for the news website Majzooban-e-Noor, was charged with "propagating against the regime" and having unlawful contact with the U.S. government-funded Radio Farda, according to Majzooban-e-Noor. His family knew nothing about his whereabouts or condition until a month after his arrest, when they discovered he was being held at the Shiraz Intelligence Office's Detention Center, his mother, Shokoofeh Yadollahi, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. After repeated attempts, she said, they were allowed to visit him.

Nouri awaited trial in prison on the initial counts. In a separate case, the Shiraz Criminal Court convicted Nouri of "creating public anxiety" and "publishing falsehoods" in connection with his work, according to Majzooban-e-Noor. The court sentenced him to one year in prison on those counts.

Majzooban-e-Noor covers the Gonabadi dervishes religious community. Nouri had reported that security and intelligence forces had incited local residents to attack the dervishes during a September 2011 confrontation, causing one death and several injuries, according to Majzooban-e-Noor. Many dervishes, including several other journalists with Majzooban-e-Noor, were imprisoned immediately after the 2011 crackdown.

Nouri has developed respiratory problems during his imprisonment at Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, according to reformist news websites. The journalist began waging a hunger strike in April 2013 to protest the transfer to solitary confinement of several Majzooban-e Noor journalists, according to Majzooban-e Noor.

On April 24, 2013, a Shiraz Revolutionary Court convicted Nouri of "propaganda against the regime," "acting against national security," "insulting the supreme leader," and "membership in the Majzooban-e-Noor group," according to Majzooban-e-Noor. He was sentenced to four years and four months in prison. His sentence was upheld on appeal on August 30, 2013, according to Majzooban-e Noor.

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