Iran continues prosecution of post-election detainees

Nezam Hassanpour, an Iranian election protester, was sentenced to six years in prison for participation in post-election protests.

Committee of Human Rights reporters said, Judge Maghiseh sentenced Hassanpour to five years in prison for “activity against national security.” He also sentenced him to one more year in prison for “resistance against government officers.”

The 25-year-old student, a resident of a Kouhdasht village, was arrested five months ago at his home for the charge of “participating in the post-election protests.”

After the 2009 presidential elections, millions of Iranians all across Iran took to the streets to protest against the alleged electoral fraud that brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back to another term at the presidency.

Reportedly, security forces arrested Hassanpour's brother in order to force him into turning himself over to the authorities.

Hassanpour is a student in the last term of his degree in education and is amongst the thousands of protesters who were arrested and handed heavy sentences in the government crackdown on the peaceful protests after the presidential elections.

Another post-election detainee, Maryam Zia, was also sentenced to one year in prison for the charge of “propaganda against the regime.”

The children’s rights activist was arrested last December and was imprisoned for over three months. She was released on a $30,000 bail after she spent 13 days on hunger strike.