This report was published on Persian2English.com:
April 1, 2011, Persian2English – The father of 24 year old jailed Iranian blogger Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (a.k.a. Babak Khoramdin) told Radio Farda on March 29th that his son is in grave condition in Evin prison because he “suffers from kidney problems and needs to undergo surgery immediately.”
Hossein was arrested along with his brother on December 13, 2009 at their parents’ home in the Eastern Azerbaijan province during an operation to “dismantle a counterrevolutionary network.” Reports indicate that Hossein had “written and used software to combat filtering and to host and support websites and blogs that defend human rights.” His brother was later released on an $80 thousand (USD) bail.
Hossein is charged with “Membership in the Iran Proxy internet group”, “Propaganda against the regime”, and “Insulting the Supreme Leader and the President”. In December 2010, one year after his arrest, a 15-year prison sentence issued earlier for the blogger was finalized by the Islamic Republic Appeals Court. According to reports, Hossein’s lawyer and family were not present at the court when the sentence was issued. Hossein was originally sentenced on October 3, 2010 by branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. Hossein was not permitted to read the verdict, but after he was beaten by [regime] officials, he was forced to sign it.
Reporters Without Borders said that this is the heaviest sentence for a blogger to date after the 19 and a half year sentence given to another blogger, Hossein Derakhshan.
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