TEHRAN The sentence issued against Emadoddin Baqi, a journalist and the editorial board member of the banned daily Fat'h, was commuted to three years.
Baqi had already been sentenced to seven and half years in prison by Branch 1410 of Tehran's Public Court, presided over by Judge Saeid Mortazavi, but the term was commuted to three years by Branch 21 of Tehran's Appeal Court, Baqi's attorney Saleh Nikbakht told IRNA here Sunday.
Nikbakht said Baqi had been sentenced to six months in prison for insulting the Judiciary, the Guardian Council (GC) and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
As for the charges of vilification, Baqi had been sentenced to one-year in prison, said Nikbakht, adding that the sentence was also withdrawn.
Nikbakht further said that Baqi had been sentenced to four years in prison by the preliminary court for publishing an article on eye-for-eye and retribution, but the sentence was reduced to half by the Appeal Court.
He said the Appeal Court also reduced the sentence issued for publication of falsehoods to half.
Judges of Branch 21 of the Appeal Court carefully investigated the case and addressed the objections of the attorney, he added.
He said that he would lodge complaint at the Supreme Court and Justice Department for the ruling issued in the case.
Baqi first appeared in court on May 1 to answer to 13 charges brought against him by different entities including the Information Ministry and the IRIB.
Baqi stood trial for publishing articles which allegedly questioned the validity of certain aspects of the Islamic law, acts threatening national security and diverting public opinion and for spreading unsubstantiated news stories implicating certain individuals as agents of the Information Ministry in the serial murder of intellectuals and dissidents in 1998.
His articles were published in the banned Persian daily Neshat.
(IRNA)