Amouee, a contributor to reformist newspapers such as Mihan, Hamshahri, Jame’e, Khordad, Norooz, and Shargh, and the author of an eponymous blog, was arrested with his wife, journalist Zhila Bani-Yaghoub, according to news reports. In January 2010, Amouee was sentenced to 34 lashes, along with seven years and four months in prison. In March of the same year, an appeals court reduced the prison sentence to five years, according to Rooz Online.
Amouee was being held in Evin Prison, according to news reports, with part of his term served in solitary confinement. In July 2010, Amouee and 14 other prisoners staged a 16-day hunger strike to protest mistreatment at Evin Prison. Prison officials punished them by denying family visits for a month, Jonbesh-e-Rah-e-Sabz reported.
In June 2012, authorities transferred Amouee to Rajaee Shahr Prison, where violent criminals are held. Later that same month he was transferred to solitary confinement for several days, according to the BBC Persian service.
His wife, Bani-Yaghoub, editor-in-chief of the Iranian Women’s Club, a news website focusing on women’s rights, was released on bail in August 2009 but was later sentenced to one year in prison on anti-state charges. She began serving her term at Evin Prison in September 2012, according to news reports.