Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate sentenced again

Iranian activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who has been repeatedly imprisoned during her 30-year campaign for women's rights, has been sentenced to a new prison term of seven and a half years, a group supporting her announced on Sunday.

Her sentence includes six years for gathering and associating to commit crimes, one and a half years for propaganda, and a two-year travel ban.

The Narges Foundation said in a statement that Mohammadíová, 53, had been on a week-long hunger strike, which ended on Sunday. The activist told her lawyer by phone from prison on Sunday that she had received the verdict on Saturday.

Tehran has renewed its crackdown on dissent during nearly three weeks of anti-government protests that began in late December.

Iranian security forces detained Mohammadi in December in the city of Mashhad, where a memorial service was held for lawyer Khosrov Alikordi, who was found dead in his office a week earlier. Several human rights organizations have described his death as suspicious and suggested the possible involvement of the Iranian authorities.

(reuters, im)