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Seven Reformist Leaders Sentenced to Jail in Iran | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Mohammed Reza Khatami, a brother of former president Mohammed Khatami, is among seven Iranian reformists sentenced to one-year jail terms. (AFP)


London – The Iranian judiciary issued on Monday new prison sentences against seven reform activists for “anti-regime propaganda.”

The activists including Mohammed Reza Khatami, the brother of former reform President Mohammed Khatami,

They have been sentenced to one year in jail.

“I can confirm this report but we will have to appeal,” charged university academic Mohammed Reza Jalaipour told AFP in a text message.

The sentence also includes a ban from all political and media activity for two years, he added.

Lawyer Hojat Kermani, quoted by ILNA news agency, named four of the other reformists convicted as ex-deputy parliament speaker Mohammad Reza Khatami, former legislator Mohsen Safaie Farahani, Azar Mansouri, a member of an advisory panel for president Khatami during his 1997-2005 term, and Hossein Kashefi.

The lawyer said all five had been found guilty of “anti-regime propaganda”, but he could not specify the charges against two other convicted reformists, ex-MPs Ali Shakouri Rad and Mohammad Naimipour, because he had not represented them.

The seven were leaders of the Islamic Iran Participation Front which authorities dissolved in 2010 following a wave of unprecedented protests against the re-election the previous year of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.