Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A reporter for Newsweek was sentenced "in absentia" to 13 years in prison and 74 lashes for reporting news on the Green Wave protests, the opposition movement that arose after the disputed election of Ahmadinejad.
Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian, was imprisoned last year for four months, then released on bail (about 300,000 dollars) to enable him to leave the country and visit his wife who was about to have a child.
The Revolutionary Court sentenced him for "collaboration and collusion in acts against national security", possession of confidential documents, insulting the president and propaganda against the regime.
Bahir told AP that the Tehran regime wants to "scare as many people as possible." At least 30 journalists, writers and bloggers are prisoners in Iranian jails. Among these there is also the director Jafar Panahi. He had been chosen to participate as a judge at Cannes, but his place has been left empty. The French Government requested his release yesterday.
The Green Wave, which continues to demand a review of last years’ elections and to organize events that are immediately suppressed with violence, report that since June last year at least 70 people were killed. Thousands were arrested. Of these at least 200 remain in prison, under threat of torture and the death penalty.