Iranian-Canadian blogger Jailed

[MikeLigalig.com]

An Iranian court has sentenced a prominent Iranian-Canadian blogger to more than 19 years in jail, rights groups and Iranian media say.

Hossein Derakhshan was charged with "propagating against the regime" and "co-operating with hostile states".

Mr Derakhshan was arrested in 2008 during a visit to the country.

He is credited with launching Iran's blogging revolution. Originally critical of the government, he later backed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Derakhshan was also sentenced for promoting counter-revolutionary groups, insulting Islamic thought and religious figures and managing obscene websites, Mashreq news website reported.

Judicial sources said he could appeal the ruling.

After moving to Toronto, Canada, from Tehran in 2000, he posted simple instructions in Farsi on how to publish blogs - thus helping to spark an explosion of blogging in Iran. - BBC