A leading Iranian student activist has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail on grounds of security, as also insulting the leadership of the Islamic republic, opposition websites reported Wednesday.
Majid Tavakoli, arrested December 7 during anti-government protests on campuses on Student Day, was also banned from participating in political activity and from leaving the country for five years.
Amir Kabir News Letter, an opposition student website, said he was sentenced to five years in prison for "conspiring and gathering against the establishment and one year for propaganda against the system."
It added that he was also handed a two-year jail term for "insulting" the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and six more months for "insulting" President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
State news agency IRNA said Tavakoli, who called President Ahmadinejad a "fascist", Ayatollah Khamenei a "dictator", had sought to leave Amir Kabir University after delivering a speech "disguised as a woman" to outwit the security forces present.
The arrest triggered a cyber campaign by opposition supporters calling for his release.
Iranian authorities cracked down on student activists in the past several months to crush their movement. The agitation has been keeping the post-election protests alive.
The regime handed out stiff punishment in recent weeks against reformist camp activists to discourage public protests. A journalist was sentenced to six years in prison and five years of internal exile to a remote desert town.
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