Prison Terms in Iran Hint of New Reins on Internet

Escalating their assault on Internet access, the judicial authorities in Iran have sentenced eight Facebook users to prison terms as long as 20 years and have ordered Mark Zuckerberg, the multibillionaire American founder of Facebook, to testify in a lawsuit that contends the company’s social media applications violate privacy, Iranian news sites reported on Tuesday.

Facebook has long been restricted in Iran, viewed as a vehicle for subversive political messaging, and the court order to Mr. Zuckerberg is unenforceable. But the developments strongly suggested that the conservative ideologues who control the courts and the police in Iran were intensifying their challenge to President Hassan Rouhani, a comparatively moderate cleric who called for greater Internet freedom for Iranians in a speech less than two weeks ago.

In another possible sign of Mr. Rouhani’s political vulnerability for his position on the Internet, Iranian rights groups pointed to evidence that the imprisoned director of “Happy in Tehran,” an illicit Iranian rendition of the Pharrell Williams dance video, had been linked to Mr. Rouhani’s 2013 presidential campaign.

The director, Sassan Soleimani, along with three men and three women who danced in the video, were arrested this month on unspecified morality charges in a crackdown that elicited enormous sympathy for them abroad and a veiled message of support from Mr. Rouhani, who suggested on his official Twitter account that Iranians should not be punished for expressing happiness.

The dancers were freed on bail after three days, but Mr. Soleimani, a filmmaker and animator, remains incarcerated. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, reported that Mr. Soleimani’s family members had expected him to be released Saturday on bail from a prison in Karaj, northwest of Tehran, but were told instead to come back in a week “for a visit.”

An Iranian magazine, Ideal Life, reported last year that Mr. Soleimani had taken photographs for Mr. Rouhani’s election campaign last year, and Mr. Rouhani’s official campaign color, purple, had been Mr. Soleimani’s suggestion.

People close to Mr. Rouhani’s inner circle, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they did not know Mr. Soleimani.

In a separate case, Kaleme, an opposition website based abroad, reported on Tuesday that a judge in a Tehran revolutionary court had convicted eight Facebook users of numerous offenses, including propaganda against the state, insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, blasphemy and spreading falsehoods. All were arrested by the cybercrime unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards last year, the website reported, and received unusually tough sentences, ranging from seven to 20 years.

Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, said the convictions and punishments reflected “a serious challenge to Rouhani and his stated policy of opening up the Internet.”

The Iranian Students’ News Agency reported that a judge had summoned Mr. Zuckerberg to appear in court to answer complaints that Facebook’s Instagram and WhatsApp applications violate privacy rights. A spokeswoman for Facebook, Jodi Seth, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Mr. Zuckerberg would honor the summons. The United States and Iran have no diplomatic relations or mechanisms for extraditions.

Iranian news agencies reported last week that Instagram, a photo-sharing site used by one of the “Happy in Tehran” defendants to publicize their arrest and prosecution, had been banned. But there has been no indication since then that the prohibition has been enforced.

Thomas Erdbrink contributed reporting from Tehran.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/world/middleeast/prison-terms-in-iran-hint-of-new-reins-on-internet.html?_r=0