Five-Year Prison Sentence and Two-Year Ban on Social Media-Related Professional Activities Upheld Against Soheil Arabi

Breathing in Confinement, Sunday, 25 October 2026: The Tehran Province Court of Appeal has upheld the sentence of five years in prison and a two-year ban on professional activities related to social media imposed on Soheil Arabi, a blogger and citizen journalist.

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of Prisoners’ Rights in Iran, the Tehran Province Court of Appeal, in a ruling dated 19 October, rejected Soheil Arabi’s appeal and upheld the verdict issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court without modification.

According to the verdict, Soheil Arabi was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security,” with the application of provisions relating to repeat offences and credit for time already served in detention. Additionally, as a supplementary punishment, the court banned him from engaging in any employment or profession related to social media activities for two years.

Soheil Arabi, a blogger and citizen journalist, received the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award in 2017. He has previously faced multiple judicial cases and convictions.