The Supreme Court of Iran on Tuesday upheld a death sentence against dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam for fuelling anti-government protest unrest in 2017 on the social media platform.

‘Yes, the Supreme Court… has upheld the sentence passed by the Revolutionary Court in this case,’ Reuters quoted spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili as saying during a news conference that was streamed live on a judiciary website.

According to media reports, Zam, son of a pro-reform Shi’ite cleric lived in France where he was reportedly lured into visiting Iraq in September 2019 and was captured by intelligence agents and taken back to Iran. He was tried by a notorious judge in a Revolutionary Court, behind closed doors and received a double death penalty, for ‘corruption on earth’, a Sharia crime meaning plotting against Islam.

Zam’s news channel, Amad News in the messaging app Telegram had over 10 lakh followers.

Iran’s judiciary has said that Zam was working with French and Israeli intelligence against Iran played a crucial role in fueling the December 2017 nationwide protests with messages on social media, and this has been one of the reasons for his death penalty.

As many as 21 people were killed during the unrest and thousands were arrested. He was also forced to appear in a televised program of ‘forced confessions’ when international human rights organizations said that he was tortured and pressed into self-incrimination.

Also Read: Karnataka:16-Year-Old Girl Raped By Four Including Hospital Staff