Ruhollah Zam (, also

Romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

as "Rouhollah Zam"; 27 July 197812 December 2020) was an Iranian activist and journalist. Best known for operating a

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channel named 'Amadnews', which he founded in 2015, Zam played a high-profile role in the

2017–2018 Iranian protests Public protests took place in several cities in Iran beginning on 28 December 2017 and continued into early 2018, sometimes called the Dey protests. The first protest took place in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city by population, initially fo ...

, to which he devoted special coverage at the time. In June 2020, an Iran court found him guilty of " corruption on earth" for running a popular anti-government forum, which officials said had incited the 2017–2018 Iranian protests. He was sentenced to death by an Iranian court and was executed on 12 December 2020.

Biography

Ruhollah Zam was born into a clerical family in Tehran in 1978. His father, Mohammad-Ali Zam, is a

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

who served in senior government positions in the 1980s and 1990s. Mohammad-Ali Zam chose the name "Rouhollah" for his son as he was a supporter of Rouhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic in Iran, however, Rouhollah later asked his friends to call him ''Nima''. Ruhollah Zam turned against the establishment after the

2009 Iranian presidential election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests c ...

, and was imprisoned in

Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...

for some time. Zam eventually fled Iran to reside in France in 2011. He was best known for operating a

channel named 'Amadnews' (or 'Sedaiemardom', ), which he founded in 2015. Zam played a high-profile role in the 2017–18 Iranian protests, to which he devoted special coverage at the time. The Telegram channel's mission is "spreading awareness and seeking justice", and it has about 1.4 million followers. It provided the timing and organizational details of the protests as well as information about officials that challenged the Iranian government. After the Iranian government complained that the channel gave information about how to make gasoline bombs, Telegram shut down the channel in 2018, but it reappeared with a different name. Voice of America's Persian service frequently invited Zam on its broadcasts. Zam was married to Mahsa Razani and had two daughters.

Arrest

On 14 October 2019, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced they had lured Zam back to Iran and arrested him, although according to other sources, he had been arrested in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

by intelligence officials, and handed over to Iran based on the extradition agreement between the two countries signed in 2011. The court hearing was held at the 15th branch of the

Islamic Revolutionary Court Islamic Revolutionary Court (), also known as the Revolutionary Tribunal (''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) is a special system of courts in the Islamic Republic of Iran designed to try ...

in Tehran, presided over by Judge

Abolqasem Salavati Abolqasem Salavati () (born 16 July 1967) is an Iranian judge and former head of the 15th branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, Iran. In recent years, he had been the judge of numerous controversial cases. He has been sanctioned by ...

. Zam was sentenced to death according to the judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, on 30 June 2020.

Accusations of French involvement

Shortly after Zam's arrest, the French newspaper Le Figaro accused the French government of involvement. Zam, who was living under police protection, discussed all his travel plans with French Police. Le Figaro implied that French police did not discourage Zam from traveling, as part of a prisoner swap agreement with Iran. In November 2021 the Iranian Security official Akbar Khoshkooshak claimed France helped organize the arrest of Zam, in return for the release of a French undercover agent, captured by Shiite militia in Syria.

Execution

Zam was executed by hanging on 12 December 2020. Zam was executed in

Rejaei Shahr Gohardasht Prison () is a prison in Gohardasht, a town in the northern outskirt of Karaj, approximately 20 km (2 miles) west of Tehran. Sometimes spelled Gohar Dasht Prison, it is also known as ''"Rajai Shahr"'', ''Rajaishahr'', ''Raja’i ...

prison and was on hunger strike at the time of execution. A number of state officials including the state prosecutor

Amin Vaziri Amin may refer to: People * Amin (name), a masculine given name and also a surname * Al-Amin, sixth Abbasid caliph, who ruled from 809 to 813 * Amin (Qing dynasty), Imperial Prince of the Qing Dynasty * Idi Amin (c. 1925–2003), military ruler ...

were present to watch his execution.

Reaction

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

(RSF) condemned the execution and stated, The foreign ministry of France, where Zam was living in exile, stated,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

stated it was, As a response to the execution, ambassadors from France, Germany, Austria, and Italy cancelled their participation in the Europe-Iran Business Forum, an online business forum.

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

Human Rights Institute described it as a

judicial murder Judicial murder is the intentional and premeditated killing of an innocent person by means of capital punishment; therefore, it is a subset of wrongful execution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' describes it as "death inflicted by process of law ...

. In 2023, The documentary about Ruhollah Zam, Son of Mullah, was releasad. It follows the director, Nahid Persson Sarvestani, as she interviews and documents Zam during a year.

References