Iranian dissident and blogger Ruhollah Zam has been sentenced to death in Tehran. The verdict was pronounced by the so-called “revolutionary court”. He usually judges on espionage cases and cases in which national security has been endangered.
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Zam, who can still appeal to the Supreme Court, is accused of spreading propaganda against Iranian rulers through his website Amad News. He is also said to have incited violence and protest. Among other things, Zam had criticized the controversial re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in 2009. He then fled to France and Malaysia. From abroad he regularly spoke with Persian TV channels in which he invariably lashed out at those in power in Iran.
The blogger was lured with an excuse to neighboring Iraq last year and arrested there by the Iranian law enforcement agencies. Since then, he has pleaded guilty several times at hearings, asking for forgiveness. Observers assume that his death penalty will not be carried out.
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