30 June 2020 :
Ruhollah Zam, a journalist, has been sentenced to death for his actions. Zam had been living and working in exile in Paris. Zam was abducted and taken to Iran apparently during a visit to Iraq in October 2019. It appeared at the time that he was somehow lured to leave his home in Paris and travel to Iraq by Iranian intelligence. French authorities have “strongly condemned” the move. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced Zam’s sentence on June 30. Esmaili said the court has found 13 of the charges brought against Zam, including spying for France and Israel, as proof of "corruption on earth" which bears a death sentence according to Iran's Islamic Penal Code. During his trial by the Revolutionary Court the 46-year-old Zam refuted all the charges brought against him by the prosecutor, including the charges of "collusion to take criminal action against national security ", espionage, and "insults against sanctities". Zam’s website, AmadNews, and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had informed people on the timing of the protests and published embarrassing information about Iranian officials. The 2017 protests represented the biggest challenge to Iran since postelection mass unrest in 2009 and set the stage for similar revolts in November 2019. Thousands were detained by police in the protests, and 25 people were killed. Zam later appeared in televised confessions in recent months admitting his wrongdoings and offering an apology for his past activities. Zam can appeal his case to the Supreme Court.
