Iranian journalist and award-winning blogger sentenced to prison and restricted from working for 30 years

Zhila Bani Jaghob, an Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist, has been sentenced to one year of prison and is being restricted from working as a journalist for 30 years. “One of the reasons they named for handing me this harsh sentence were the articles I wrote on my weblog,” said Bani Jaghob. Her blog “We are Journalists” featured stories about “people's protests against the disputed presidential election in Iran last year.” After the elections in Iran last year, Bani Jaghob was arrested and held for 70 days. She plans to appeal the court’s decision. Her husband, also a journalist, was sentenced to serve more than seven years in prison as well. “Currently, More than 40 journalists and webloggers are imprisoned in Iran,” says Bani Jaghob.

“We are Journalists” was chosen by the jury from The BOBs this past April to receive the Reporters Without Borders prize from Deutsche Welle’s international weblog awards. “The prize should honor her outstanding commitment to freedom of speech. She is one of the few critical journalists still working in Iran,” explained the jury. Bani Jaghob will not be able to attend The BOBs awards ceremony taking place today, June 22 at 5:30 p.m. at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn. She did, however, send a personal message to the organizers and those in attendance.