Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Persian article.
Saeed Shakiba, an Iranian blogger and satirist who was arrested after posting a satirical video impersonating late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s voice, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Tehran Revolutionary Court.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Friday that Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court issued the sentence on the alleged charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” Shakiba is being held at Greater Tehran Penitentiary.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights also confirmed the report, saying that Shakiba’s hearing took place last week and that the verdict was delivered to him in prison.
Saeed Shakiba was arrested in mid-October after posting a satirical video on social media in which he imitated the voice of Ali Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme Leader who was killed during the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation against the regime.
Following the video's publication, Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, announced that a case had been opened against a blogger, describing the published content as “insulting and abusive.”
On October 25, the agency also reported that an indictment had been issued in the case. A statement from the judiciary cited several alleged charges during the proceedings, including insulting officials, propaganda against the state, and supporting Israel.
According to HRANA, however, Shakiba’s five-year prison sentence was issued on the alleged charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.”
The satirist’s conviction comes after the U.S. State Department documented severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the prosecution of critics of the Islamic Republic in its 2023 annual human rights report on Iran.
The report said Iranian authorities use criminal laws to intimidate and prosecute people who criticize the government, the Islamic Republic’s leader, or official policies.
The State Department also noted that Iran’s security and judicial institutions have, in some cases, used citizens’ remarks and social media posts as grounds for bringing national security charges against them.
The report further cited the arrest and punishment of government critics, restrictions on media activity, and censorship of online content among the violations of freedom of expression in the Islamic Republic.