Iranian court sentences human rights activist to 5 ½ years in prison

A human rights activist in Iran has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison, opposition sites reported on Wednesday.

According to opposition site Jaras, Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati, handed down the ruling to children’s rights activist and blogger Mohamad Hassan Yousef Pourseifi.

The charges against Pourseifi include: assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security, membership in an organisation called Human Rights Activists in Iran, providing assistance to political prisoners and facilitating their “illegal” exit from Iran, raising “illegitimate” funds for the families of jailed dissidents, “illegitimately” bailing out “security prisoners”, “insulting religious sanctities” on his blog as well as writing critical articles on the situation of women, child labour and workers’ rights.

Pourseifi has reportedly refused to appeal the court’s decision and is due to return to Ward 350 of Evin Prison in August.

In the past three years, Judge Salavati has condemned to death two monarchists and has sentenced more than a hundred political prisoners, human rights activists and demonstrators to lengthy prison sentences.

In April 2011, the European Union blacklisted 32 Iranian officials, including Judge Salavati, for their role in the human rights abuses committed in the aftermath of the widely disputed 2009 presidential elections.

Source: Iran Green Voice

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