IRANIAN authorities have sentenced a dissident journalist to death, accusing him of using a news-messaging app and website to incite anti-government protests.

Ruhollah Zam was found guilty of “corruption on Earth,” according to Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili, who announced the sentence on Tuesday.

Mr Zam ran the Amadnews website, which lampooned senior government officials and shared footage of the nationwide protests in 2017-18.

His popular news network gained a following of about 1.4 million people on the Telegram encrypted messaging channel.

It was shut down after complaints by the Iranian regime which claimed it had posted instructions on how to make a petrol bomb, but reopened under a different name.

Mr Zam is the son of Shia cleric and former government official Mohammad Ali Zam, who distanced himself from his activities.

It is not clear how Mr Zam was returned to Iran. He had been granted political asylum in France where he had fled in 2018. An Iranian intelligence service said it had used “modern intelligence methods and innovative tactics” that enabled its agents to swoop and arrest Mr Zam in October.

He had since appeared on state TV apologising for his actions, which he had previously denied.

Mr Zam can appeal against the death sentence.

The sentence is seen as part of a widening crackdown by Iran’s clerical regime. On Monday the Morning Star reported on the case of three young men sentenced to death for their role in anti-government protests last year.

Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi were convicted by a Tehran court after they had sought political asylum in neighbouring Turkey.

They had been told their cases would take about a year to process and they would be staying in a refugee camp while it was being assessed. Security officials there, however, handed the trio back to Iran, where they were charged.

Last week freelance journalist Sepideh Qoliyan was sentenced to five years in prison for reporting on a rally held by striking Haft Tappeh sugar-mill workers, who were demanding unpaid wages. She was jailed after refusing to sign a letter apologising to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Ms Qoliyan was charged with assembly and collusion against national security. Since her imprisonment, she has spoken out about the torture meted out to her and other detainees.