Iran sentences journalist to death

AP: A journalist accused of involvement in a terrorist group in southeastern Iran has been sentenced to death, the judiciary said Tuesday. The Associated Press

By NASSER KARIMI

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A journalist accused of involvement in a terrorist group in southeastern Iran has been sentenced to death, the judiciary said Tuesday.

Yaghoob Mirnehad was sentenced to die for “membership in the terrorist Jundallah group as well as for crimes against national security,” said judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi.

He did not give details of Mirnehad’s alleged crimes. The sentence may be appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court.

Mirnehad is a reporter in southeastern Iran for a Tehran-based daily newspaper, Mardomsalari. He also runs a charity that focuses on childhood education.

Mirnehad was arrested last May in Zahedan, provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province some 1,000 miles southeast of Tehran.

The area near Pakistan and Afghanistan is a key crossing point for narcotics and often sees clashes between police and drug gangs. It is also home to a large number of Iran’s minority Sunni Muslims.

The Jundallah group, or God’s Brigade, is active there and has been blamed for attacks on Iranian troops. Jamshidi did not specify Mirnehad’s alleged role in the group.

In December, Iranian police killed 12 people suspected of membership in Jundallah. Early last year, Iran hanged a Jundallah member who was convicted in a bombing that killed 11 members of the Revolutionary Guards. The government has also accused Jundallah of having links to al-Qaida.