TEHRAN: A reformist former government spokesman detained after Iran’s disputed election in June has been sentenced to six years in jail, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, who backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the vote, was sentenced by a court on charges that included acting against national security, propaganda against the system and possessing classified documents.
The report of his jail sentence coincides with mounting tension in Iran after the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri and reports of clashes between Montazeri’s supporters and security forces in the city of Isfahan on Wednesday.
Ramezanzadeh was among scores of senior pro-reform figures and activists detained after the poll on accusations of fomenting post-election unrest.
“Based on the court’s decision Ramezanzadeh was given a six-year obligatory jail sentence,” Fars quoted a court statement as saying. It did not say when the verdict was issued. Revolutionary courts usually handle security cases.
Last month, Iranian media said reformist former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi was also sentenced to six years in jail. He was later released on bail of $700,000 pending appeal.
Abtahi, one of dozens of leading moderates detained after the disputed election on charges of trying to topple the clerical establishment by orchestrating protests, was the most senior reformer to be jailed after the presidential election.
Thousands of people were arrested after the poll, which the opposition says was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Most of them have since been freed, but more than 80 have received jail sentences of up to 15 years in connection with protests and violence after the vote, the judiciary says.
The authorities reject the opposition’s vote rigging charges and have portrayed the huge opposition protests that erupted after the election as foreign-backed.
