Ruhollah Zam, the founder of the Amad News website and Telegram channel, has been sentenced to death. He faced 13 separate charges and was tried over six court sessions before the verdict was reached.

Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, announced that Ruhollah Zam had been sentenced to death at a news conference on July 31 – one of the charges he said was "corruption on earth." Esmaili also said that the ruling was not yet definite and that it could be appealed in the Supreme Court. 

Over the course of the court proceedings, Ruhollah Zam denied the 13 charges against him including "blasphemy," "espionage" and "gathering and colluding against national security."

In some of the court hearings, the prosecution cited certain journalists, such as Hengameh Shahidi, as accomplices in Zam’s alleged criminal activities. However, it was not specified how these individuals are connected to the case. 

The full list of charges against Zam include: "corruption on earth," "espionage on behalf of the French intelligence services," "espionage on behalf of the Israeli intelligence services," "gathering and colluding against national security," "propaganda activities against the state," "publishing lies," "blasphemy," "insulting government officials and agents while on duty," "insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran [Ayatollah Khomeini]," "receiving finances illegally," "establishing and administering the opposition media networks Amad News and Voice of the People with the intention of undermining national security," "membership and management of the opposition news site Saham News with the aim of undermining national security" and "inciting members of the armed forces to rebel, desert or surrender".

During his fourth court hearing, Zam denied these charges, saying: “I was a journalist and I was simply practicing journalism.” He specifically rejected the charges of espionage and committing actions against national security, saying: “No, I do not accept these allegations. I was practicing journalism.”

Likewise, during the fifth court hearing against him, Zam stated: “I have definitely made mistakes, I won't say that I haven’t made many any mistakes in my life. [But] I have not committed any crimes.” 

After Ruhollah Zam’s first court hearing and the media coverage of his initial charges, Reporters Without Borders warned of the danger that Zam would face the death penalty and called the court process unfair. 

In other court hearings, journalists such as Sam Sarabi and Hengameh Shahidi were also mentioned in connection with Zam’s case. In the fifth court hearing, Judge Abolghasem Salavati claimed that Shahidi had pleaded guilty to the charges against her in connection with Zam’s case and that her sentence against her was final. However, no further explanation has yet been given by the court regarding Shahidi's new charges and sentence. 

Ruhollah Zam is the son of Mohammad Ali Zam, the former head of the art section of the Islamic Propaganda Organization and a well-known cleric. During the 2009 Presidential Elections, Zam was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence for criticizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was later released and he subsequently left Iran. He first went to Malaysia where he stayed for some time before travelling to France. In France, Zam launched the Amad News website and Telegram channel. 

In February 2012, Zam published an open letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in which he stated that he had been subjected to numerous forms of torture during his detention in Evin Prison in 2009. 

In 2017, Zam’s brother, two sisters and the husband of one sister were all arrested, although at different times of the year. Zam claimed these arrests were aimed at putting pressure on Amad News in an attempt to silence its reporting. 

In October 2019, Zam was arrested by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards [IRGC] in Baghdad and was forcibly returned to Iran. On October 14, 2019, the IRGC issued a statement in which they announced Zam’s arrest. A few hours later, he was shown in front of the TV cameras, giving a forced confession in which he stated that he regretted his past actions. 

There was no news of Zam's whereabouts or condition until his first court hearing was held on February 10, 2020. His subsequent court hearings were heard in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Courts, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, and took place on February 16, February 24, May 5, June 2 and June 9, 2020.

Abolghasem Salavati is the judge of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Courts. For more than a decade, since 2009, he has issued long prison sentences and corporal punishments against numerous journalists, civil society activists and social media activists.