Iranian student to be jailed, flogged for demonstrating

Agence France-Presse , PoliticalGateway.com:

An Iranian student detained for taking part in anti-regime demonstrations has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars and 76 lashes, his lawyer told the ISNA news agency Tuesday.

The lawyer said an Islamic revolutionary court had found Farab Samimi guilty of "propagating against the regime" and "disturbing public order" for taking part in an illegal gathering on July 9, 2003. READ MORE

The lawyer, Mohammad Sharif, told ISNA that his client would appeal.

On April 19, press reports said eight other students were given suspended jail terms for insulting President Mohammad Khatami and endangering national security.

Four of those condemned were from the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan and the others were from a university in the northwestern city of Tabriz.

The judiciary, a bastion of Islamic hardliners, has also reportedly arrested and released Said Habibi, a member of the pro-reform student group the Office to Consolidate Unity.

Iran's students played a key role in the 1997 election of Khatami, but a series of crackdowns that followed subsequent anti-regime demonstrations have severely dampened on-campus political activity.