Region | Iran
Iran sentences journalist to death on terror charge
Iran said on Tuesday that it had sentenced an education activist and journalist to death for his alleged involvement in terrorism.
- AP
- Published: 22:05 February 19, 2008
Tehran: Iran said on Tuesday that it had sentenced an education activist and journalist to death for his alleged involvement in terrorism.
Yaghoob Mirnehad, a journalist who also ran a charity apparently focused on improving childhood education in Iran, was sentenced to death "because of his membership in the terrorist Jundallah group as well as for crimes against national security," Ali Reza Jamshidi, spokesman for Iran's judiciary, told reporters yesterday.
Earlier this month, local websites reported that Mirnehad had been sentenced to death, but Jamshidi's comments were the first official confirmation from the Iranian government.
Jamshidi said Mirnehad could appeal his sentence to Iran's Supreme Court. He did not give details on Mirnehad's alleged terrorism activity, nor whether his charity was involved.
Mirnehad reported for a Tehran-based daily newspaper, Mardomsalari, in southeastern Iran, a region long plagued by lawlessness.
He was arrested last May in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province some 1600km southeast of Tehran.
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