The Redirection of Water from the Ghatari Springs to Shahrood

Following a legal complaint from Amir Hossein Valian, the managing director of Avers Tourism Complex against Shahrood News, Mostafa Sharif was accused of three charges of “libel against government officials,” “disturbing the public mind” and “publishing lies” due to his publication of the story about the redirection of water from the small town of Ghatari, Golestan, to Shahrood. 

Prior to these charges, Shahrood News had, on a number of occasions, reported about the closure of Ghatari Springs which they alleged had its water redirected to the city of Shahrood.

On December 27, 2016, Shahrood News published a news report about Sharif’s trial, writing that it was being heard in Branch 102 of the Criminal Courts for the Municipality of Shahrood. This was contrary to Article 34 of the Press Law which stated that Sharif’s trial should be convened in a Press Court and with a jury.

According to the Criminal Courts’ ruling, which was issued on December 20, 2016, r Sharif was acquitted of the accusations of “libel against government officials” and “disturbing the public mind,” but he was sentenced to 40 lashes of the whip for the charge of “publishing lies.”

On February 25, 2017, Shahrood News reported that the Court of Appeals of Semnan had acquitted Mostafa Sharif of the charges that would have led to him receiving lashes as punishment.

The report said the verdict issued by the Court of Appeals for the Province of Semnan stated that: “As mentioned in the accused’s defense, it is a necessary aspect of journalistic work to reflect on current events and abnormalities in society and to provide analysis of these occurrences in a way that also prevents possible material or psychological damage. The circumstances and conditions surrounding this case do not indicate that the author of this material deviated from the professional confines of their job in this regard. Therefore, pursuant to Article 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the legal principle of the presumption of innocence and the lack of evidence for the crime, the court recognizes the appeal, dismisses the previous criminal charges and will issue the aforementioned acquittal due to their contravention of the law.”


New Legal Case After Media Criticism Over Shahrood’s Water Supply

On January 29, 2020, the Shahrood News website announced that the Prosecutor’s Office had officially issued a formal indictment against Sharif. The news article stated: “The news and analysis website, Shahrood News, will be going to court for a second time after a complaint from government officials. This legal complaint comes following the demands for water from the city's former governor. The Special Governorate of Shahrood has sued this media outlet on the accusation of ‘publishing lies’, ‘disturbing the public mind’ and ‘insulting government officials’.”


Summons to the Prosecutor's Office and Arrest in the Midst of the Covid-19 Outbreak

One informed source told Journalism is Not a Crime that Mostafa Sharif was summoned to the Prosecutor's Office several times in February and March 2020 during the widespread Covid-19 outbreak in Iran. But Sharif refused to go to the prosecutor’s office due to the outbreak of the virus.

This source stated, “On February 26, 2020, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office for the Municipality of Shahrood issued an arrest warrant for Mostafa Sharif. Mr Sharif was arrested by officers with a warrant while he was in Tehran and he was subsequently transferred to Shahrood. After being interrogated in Shahrood, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office for the Municipality of Shahrood released him on bail until the court proceedings against him could be convened.”

Mostafa Sharif’s trial took place in mid-March 2020, in Branch 104 of the Criminal Courts of Shahrood. Sharif was sentenced to a fine of four million tomans on the charges of “publishing lies” and “insulting government authorities.” According to the court’s verdict, half of the four million tomans fine has been suspended for two years. Sharif was informed of this sentence on March 18, 2020.

The International Federation of Journalists announced that in addition to Mostafa Sharif, three other journalists, Mehdi Ameri, Mohammad Hossein Nademi and Reza Zolfaghari, had been tried in court, following a legal complaint by the Governor of Shahrood against the journalists who had published a critical report on the governor's decision to cut the city’s water supply during the summer of 2019. All four are awaiting the final verdict of the Court of Appeals.