Maryam Jalilvand, a heritage journalist, was accused of spreading false information.
Maryam Jalilvandfar, a journalist in the field of cultural heritage, was summoned to court due to a complaint by the president of the Restoration Association of Fars Province. She appeared in Branch 22 of the District 2 Prosecutor’s Office in Shiraz on Thursday morning. Ultimately, the Shiraz Prosecutor’s Office announced that the case would continue to be handled in Tehran without issuing any ruling against the journalist.
Maryam Jalilvandfar is a veteran and influential journalist in the cultural heritage field. Her reports in recent months regarding the state of Shiraz’s historical fabric, the metro passing through Hafezieh, concrete pouring in Bishapur, and efforts to halt mining on Mount Mercy at Persepolis have sparked news trends and led to orders to stop activities in some projects.
After her influence in the cultural heritage field, she was summoned due to a question she raised in an Instagram story about restoration projects in Fars Province. The reason for the summons was her focus on the restoration contracts between the Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration and this association.
Maryam Jalilvandfar, a cultural heritage journalist at ILNA and a colleague of the Voice of Heritage, explained her presence in the Shiraz court. About a month ago, the president of the Restoration Association of Fars Province filed a complaint against her for questioning on her Instagram page how the association managed to secure contracts with the Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration while local restorers remain unemployed.
She stated that this is the first time a cultural heritage journalist has been summoned to court by a heritage association solely for asking a question on their Instagram page, which in itself is a strange matter. Maryam Jalilvand continued that after receiving the summons to appear in the Shiraz court and consulting with her lawyers in Tehran and Shiraz, she decided to travel to Shiraz and attend the court. However, an interesting aspect of the case was that when one of her trusted lawyers in Shiraz went to review the case, they were denied access to it. Eventually, one of the lawyers in Shiraz managed to review the case and found the charge of spreading false information.
The cultural heritage journalist from ILNA responded to a question from the Voice of Heritage about the outcome of her appearance in Branch 22 of District 2 Prosecutor’s Office in Shiraz. She stated that after attending the prosecutor’s office and explaining the complaint made by the president of the Restoration Association of Fars Province, the deputy prosecutor issued an order for the case to continue being processed in Tehran without passing any judgment.