AFP, Tehran, May 9, 2010  – Iran’s hardline judiciary has sentenced a student and a journalist to hefty jail terms following their arrests in the wake of last year’s disputed presidential election, media reported on Sunday.
Journalist Hengameh Shahidi was given six years for propaganda against the regime, taking part in illegal gatherings and acting against national security, according to the ISNA news agency.
Shahidi is close to reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi, a defeated candidate in the June 2009 presidential election candidate and now an Opposition leader.
Reformist student activist Abdollah Momeni was sentenced to four years and 11 months according to an appeal court verdict, the reformist Advarnews website reported.
Momeni was also involved in Karroubi’s campaign for the presidency, which saw the re-election of Mahmoud Ahamdinejad in an outcome contested by the Opposition and its supporters.
In both cases, the initial sentences were reduced on appeal.
Several thousand people were arrested for joining the protest movement against Ahamdinejad’s re-election.
Most were later freed but several hundred, including dozens of reformist officials, journalists and human rights activists, are still in prison after being convicted.