ABC blog

Iranian Blogger Soheil Arabi has been sentenced to a 7.5 year prison term and mandatory religious studies in a case which originally saw him condemned to death for the crime of “insulting the Prophet,” according to reporting from the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Arabi had initially been sentenced to death by Branch 76 Criminal Court in Tehran. When Arabi’s lawyer appealed the verdict, Branch 36 of the country’s Supreme Court took the extraordinary step of adding a “corruption on earth” conviction to his case (evidence mentioned in the court decision includes “a number of Facebook pages”) and confirmed his death sentence. Following a retrial petition submitted by Arabi’s lawyer and family, Branch 34 of the Supreme Court struck down the death sentence and referred the case back to one of the original courts for a new hearing. This court then overturned Arabi’s conviction for “insulting the Prophet,” sentencing him to seven and a half years of prison, two years of religious studies (in order to prove remorse), and two years’ prohibition on leaving the country after serving his jail term.

Arabi has been in judiciary custody since November 7, 2013. He has been denied any opportunity for leave.

Nastaran Na’imi, Arabi’s wife, was also arrested on charges of “propaganda against the government.” Arabi was himself charged in this case, and was sentenced to two year’s imprisonment.