TEHRAN, Iran - An Iranian news website said Tuesday a court has sentenced a well-known Canadian-Iranian blogger to more than 19 years in prison.
The conservative website, Mashreghnews.ir, which is close to Iran's presidential office, said Hossein Derakhshan was convicted on charges of co-operation with hostile countries, spreading propaganda against the ruling establishment, promotion of counterrevolutionary groups and insulting Islamic thoughts and religious figures.
The report said Derakhshan can appeal.
Derakhshan, who made trips to Israel and blogged in both English and Farsi, has been in prison since 2008. It was unclear if he would benefit from time served.
Last week, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and PEN Canada said Derakhshan's family had told them that the Iranian prosecutor was calling for the death penalty.
They said they were joining the family in asking for the Canadian government to intervene in the case.
Iranian authorities have arrested numerous bloggers in recent years in a bid to clamp down on Internet dissent.
_ With files from The Canadian Press.
Perhaps it's time for Canadian government to disallow dual citizenship....
You guys are missing a large part of this discussion.
This is an issue of xenophobic theocratic women oppressing dictators silencing free speech and expression. These two things are among the most imporatant ideas we have and should not be overlooked. This man expresses ideas on the interenet, and gets locked up. We have a chance to help him why not? Because he immigrated to Canada? Because he isnt white? Or does he not fit your defintiton of what a Canadian is? There is a majority in Iran that is young and wanting to do away with this regime and I count them as friends and a safer future for a country about to get their hands on WMD. If this Canadian was locked up for partly supporting this change then I definately think he is worth trying to aid.
the opinions on here are complete babble and have the hint of a brand of xenophobic racism.
Dear bearded one. About Lebanon. Just for the record, and don't know if it makes you feel different about Lebanon but 30 years ago the majority were Christian. A lot have left since. And their great-great-great-grandpapipes were Christian a long time before yours or mine. I don't know, Maybe you think they're muslims and so it's OK to be uptight about them. But, if you can wrap yoruself around the idea that a good chunk of Lebanon is much like you and I maybe you feel different about them.
And if that's the case then you like prejudice dude. Truth be known I'm kind of like you too. The difference though is like this, I think all the "isms" are cool - communism, capitalism, religion, etc - except sooner or later you got'a give it to the people; and as soon as you do there are always some sons-of-bitches that figure out how to cash in. It's tribal. Keep the differences alive and make hate happen and presto you got power. So, someone wants to rock a bad guys boat, why not? How do I know that's a bad guy? If the bible is true, when we got kicked out of Eden God gave us free will. If a guy thinks free will (free speech) is a bad thing then he's probably looking out for himself and his interests and so not a good guy.
If a another guy gets locked up for 20+ years beause he's **** about somebody powerful and then pulls the Canadian citizenship card... way da go!
Well, hold on a moment. Perhaps we should look at the bigger issue here. We have People from Islamic countries all over the world criticizing our way of life. Demanding rights and freedoms in western countries. Some even waging war against western civilization in the form of terrorist attacks all in the hope of spreading Islamic ideals and governance to the world. They expect us to respect their religious and state choices and honour their right to express their opinions. We, do to our beliefs grant them these rights and freedoms. Isn't it interesting that if they succeed in "converting" the world they would immediately loose all the rights and freedoms that have enabled them to speak out in the first place.
Part time Canadian or not I think we should all be appalled that a person of whatever country, race, colour or religion would be convicted and sentenced to any prison time for speaking or blogging his opinions. The entire civilized world should stand up for this young man and his right to the peaceful expression of those opinions. Every government of a democratic country should demand his release.
Just my opinion. Thank God I will not be jailed or executed for writing it.