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Aide to Iran opposition leader sentenced to 5 years in prison: report

By Matt Glenn

[JURIST] An Iranian court has sentenced Qorban Behzadiannejad, the campaign manager for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi [BBC profile] during the 2009 election [JURIST news archive], to five years in prison, opposition website Kaleme [advocacy website, in Persian] reported [Kaleme report, in Persian] Friday. The report does not identify the charges [AP report] against Behzadiannejad. The former campaign manager was also reportedly fined $100 for insulting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official website].

In June, Mousavi called for the prosecution [JURIST report] of those who committed fraud during the 2009 election and vowed to continue opposing Ahmadinejad. Earlier that month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei [official website; BBC profile] pardoned or commuted the sentences of 81 protesters [JURIST report] arrested following the disputed election. A Tehran Revolutionary Court [official website, in Persian] in April sentenced [JURIST report] three prominent progressive activists to six years in prison in connection with the protests. The men were high-ranking officials of the Islamic Iran Participation Front [party website, in Persian], a pro-democracy reformist political party that supported opposition leader Mousavi in the disputed election. Iranian authorities jailed prominent Iranian journalist Mohammad Nourizad and reform movement leader Hossein Marashi [JURIST reports] on similar charges in April and March, respectively.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 27, 2010 (boomark / email).