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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran jails former vice president, reform activist |
| 2010-03-19 |
| A former Iranian vice president and prominent reform activist convicted of spreading propaganda against the ruling clerical establishment has begun a one-year prison sentence, a close relative said Friday. An appeals court upheld Hossein Marashi's conviction and sentence on Wednesday, one of many court rulings against activists and opposition figures rounded up in the turmoil triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June. At the center of his case is an interview Marashi gave to a news Web site last year encouraging people to gather in front of Tehran's Evin prison to protest the detention of political activists. Marashi, 51, is a relative of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a vehement critic of Ahmadinejad who leads the influential Assembly of Experts, the only group with the authority to dismiss Iran's supreme leader. Marashi is a spokesman of the liberal Kargozaran political party and supported Mousavi in June's election. Wednesday's court ruling included a lifelong ban on political activity for Marashi, according to the official news agency, IRNA. |
| Posted by:ed |