Human rights activist jailed for 30 years

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Dutch human rights activist Abdullah Al-Mansouri has been sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for terrorism by an Iranian court, reports ANP news service on Wednesday.

The news was made public by Al-Mansouri’s family in Maastricht.

Born in Iran, Al-Mansouri came to the Netherlands as a refugee in 1988 and was an active member of the human rights organisation Amnesty and the local green GroenLinks party.

He was arrested while on a visit to Syria in May 2006 and extradited to Iran to face terrorism charges.

The affair has attracted widespread attention in the Netherlands. In November 2007 the Dutch government sent a senior political advisor to Tehran to warn the Iranian authorities that Al-Mansouri must get a fair trial.

His family has repeatedly expressed their concern that he could face the death penalty.

© DutchNews.nl

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