On Saturday December 12, dissident Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam was executed by hanging in Iran, according to state television IRIB. United Nations Human Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet, voiced outrage at Iran’s execution of the media activist and opposition figure.
“I am appalled at the execution in Iran on 12 December of Ruhollah Zam, activist and founder of the AmadNews Telegram channel,” Bachelet said in a statement.
“His death sentence and execution by hanging are emblematic of a pattern of forced confessions extracted under torture and broadcast on state media being used as a basis to convict people. There were, in addition, serious concerns that the apprehension of Zam outside the territory of Iran could amount to an abduction and that his subsequent transfer to Iran for trial may not have respected due process guarantees.”
Bachelet urged Iranian authorities to immediately free all those detained for exercising their human rights, and to put a stop their alarming and increasing use of the death penalty and “vague national security charges” to suppress independent voices and dissidence in the country. These acts are in serious violation of Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which include rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and right to life.
Among other charges, Zam was found guilty of “corruption on earth,” a charge that does not specify a crime, but has been repeatedly used by the Iranian government to imprison and sentence to death those who have allegedly attempted to overthrow it. Zam ran the online news site, Telegram AmadNews, which had been accused by Tehran of inciting violence during the country’s anti-government protests of 2017 and 2018. AmadNews has been regarded as an opposition site, and had been widely followed during demonstrations, garnering over one million followers on the channel’s social media.
Zam had been granted refugee status in France and was living in exile in the country for several years when arrested by Iranian authorities in October 2019. According to the French foreign ministry, Zam left France for Iraq on October 11, 2019. After three days, a statement from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a statement saying he had been detained. A video was soon released by Iranian authorities with Zam in front of a camera wearing black-out goggles, “apologizing” for his actions. According to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, Zam was accused of collaborating with U.S., French, and Israeli intelligence and had provided him “overt and covert” protection. Although the exact details and circumstances regarding how and where the journalist was detained are unclear, it was reported that Zam was persuaded, under false pretences, to go to Iraq where he was then captured and returned to Iran.
The UN human rights chief stresses that Zam is only one among many activists and protestors in Iran that have been “sentenced to long prison terms or given the death penalty for exercising their human rights after trials that failed to comply with international standards regarding due process.” Bachelet expressed that she strongly opposes the death penalty as a form of policy in all cases in that it is “simply irreconcilable with human dignity, is too often arbitrary in its application and errors can never be made good again.” She also adds in her statement that if countries insist on usage of the death penalty, under international human rights law it can only be applied to crimes at the highest level, with guarantees of fair trial, access to appeal and right to seek clemency.
She concludes her statement with, “cumulative conditions clearly not met in Ruhollah Zam’s case.”
