Iranian economic journalist Mohammad Mosaed said the court sentenced him to 4 years and 9 months in prison and banned him from conducting journalism activities for two years, Asharq Al-Awsat reports.
Mosaed tweeted that he was accused of distorting information, creating a crisis in the country and inciting Iranians to protest.
Mosaed was arrested twice this year for reporting on economic corruption and for his social media views on suppressing protests in November 2019.
In July this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that it would honor Mosaed and three journalists from Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Russia with the 2020 International Press Freedom Awards.
The committee noted that Mosaed is a freelance economic reporter who investigates corruption, embezzlement, labor issues, economic sanctions, and popular protests.
Forced to resign from a reformist newspaper Shargh under government pressure, he publishes news on social media platforms.
Mosaed was arrested in late 2019 in relation to a tweet about corruption, and released in early 2020. He was briefly arrested again in February after criticizing the government’s handling of COVID-19.
