Iranian blogger Hossein Shanbehzadeh is no stranger to incarceration. A longtime critic of Iran's leadership, he was jailed in 2019 for online comments insulting supreme leader Ali Khamenei. But he's now been hit with a 12-year sentence "for doing next to nothing," Vice reports. According to Iran International, the sentence stems from an X post in response to a tweeted photo from Khamenei. After Khamenei shared a photo of himself with Iran's national men's volleyball team in May, Shanbehzadeh replied with a single period. That comment drew more attention than you might think and brought in twice as many likes as Khamenei's original tweet.
Shanbehzadeh was arrested in Ardabil a few weeks later after his X account was allegedly taken over by someone else, per RFE/RL. The prosecutor's office claimed Shanbehzadeh was in touch with Israeli intelligence officers and was arrested when trying to flee the country, but Shanbehzadeh's lawyer said these were more false claims leveled against regime critics in an attempt to shut them up. Shanbehzadeh was ultimately sentenced to five years for alleged pro-Israel propaganda activity, four years for insulting Islamic sanctities, two years for spreading lies online, and one year for anti-regime propaganda, NPR reports.
Shanbehzadeh will only need to serve the longest of the terms, or five years, according to lawyer Amir Raisian. Still, he intends to appeal. Raisian said the judiciary presented no evidence of pro-Israel propaganda activity, a charge that was apparently based on Shanbehzadeh's "private chats." Evidence presented in support of the other charges included Shanbehzadeh's use of the hashtag #NoToExecution, his support for political prisoners, and his campaign against mandatory headscarves for women, Raisian said. It's unclear if his tweeted period came up during trial. Such proceedings are largely held behind closed doors. (More Iran stories.)
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