Iran sentences blogger to 14 years in jail
Journalist known for criticism of Iranian regime in popular blog was also sentenced to flogging, 10 years in exile
The Islamic Republic's revolutionary court delivered the sentence against Mehdi Khazali, editor of a blog called Baran, on Monday, the group said.
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Khazali, the son of a prominent conservative cleric, was also to be exiled for 10 years, it added.
Reporters Without Borders said Khazali was arrested on January 9 – his third arrest in the past two years.
A doctor and veteran of the 1980-1988 Iraq war, Khazali is the son of Ayatollah Abolqasem Khazali, a long-time member of the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body tasked with overseeing the work of Iran’s supreme leader.
Ayatollah Khazali has disavowed his son’s criticism of the regime, which notably took Tehran to task for its policies and human rights violations.
Khazali frequently poked fun at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies on his widely read blog, which has been hacked and is no longer accessible, Reporters Without Borders said.
He was previously arrested in 2009 as part of the government’s crackdown on the mass street protests that followed the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad. He was later released on bail.
Khazali was among scores of reformist politicians, journalists, human rights campaigners and student activists detained in the crackdown.
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