[custom_adv] Ruhollah Zam (born 1978) is an exiled activist and former journalist. He is best known for operating a Telegram channel named 'Amadnews' (or 'Sedaiemardom', lit. 'Voice of the People'), which he founded in 2015. Zam played a high-profile role in the 2017–18 persian protests, during which he devoted special coverage. Voice of America's Persian service frequently invited Zam on its broadcasts. [custom_adv] He was born into a clerical family in Tehran in 1978. His father, Mohammad-Ali Zam, is a reformist who served in senior government positions in the 1980s and 1990s. Ruhollah Zam turned against the establishment after the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, and he was imprisoned in Evin Prison for some time. Zam fled Iran to reside in France. [custom_adv] On 14 October 2019, homeland's Revolutionary Guards announced they had lured Zam back to Iran and arrested him. The guards posted the news of his arrest on Zam's Telegram channel with a following of over a million users, effectively taking over the administration of the popular channel. [custom_adv] The court hearing was held at the branch 15 of capital's Revolution Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati. [custom_adv] Mr Zam has long been in the crosshairs of Iran's elite Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). Mr Zam was imprisoned following the disputed 2009 presidential election and left Iran shortly after, eventually settling in France. [custom_adv] In its statement, the IRGC described Mr Zam as "one of the main people of the enemy's media network and psychological warfare".