Harsh verdicts issued against journalists and political activists show that the cost of advocacy for reform and civil liberties is still high in Iran despite pledges by moderate President Hassan Rouhani to change the status quo.

Marzieh Amiri, a journalist with the Reformist Shargh, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison and 147 lashes last month. She was arrested while covering an International Workers Day rally in Tehran. According to Reporters Without Borders, she is now one of 10 female journalists behind bars in Iran.

Another Iranian journalist recently handed a heavy sentence is Kioomars Marzban, a filmmaker and satirist who was convicted of security charges including cooperating with a hostile state, namely the United States, and sentenced to 23 years and nine months in prison.

The 2019 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders ranks Iran as 170th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom, painting a grim picture of a nation with highly talented and educated journalists but flawed laws and media regulations including restrictions on the newspapers, online publications and social networks.