Jail sentence for Iranian dissident reported

DHAKA: Abdolfattah Soltani, a prominent Iranian human-rights lawyer, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a Tehran revolutionary court, according to his daughter.

Maede Soltani, who lives in Germany, said on Tuesday that her family was officially notified of last week`s ruling, which came during the appeals process.

She told the Associated Press news agency that the "politically motivated" ruling could not be appealed a second time.

Abdolfattah Soltani, 58, was arrested last year.

A court in March initially sentenced him to 18 years in prison on various charges, including co-founding the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, spreading anti-government propaganda and endangering national security.

"My father was told that his sentence would be reduced [further] if he would apologise and speak out against Ms Ebadi in an open letter or an interview," Maede Soltani said.

BDST: 1145 HRS, JUN 13, 2012
Source: Aljazeera
SA