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Behareh Hedayat a student & women's rights activist sentenced to 9 years imprisonment

June 12 is on the horizon and the Iranian regime whose president stole people's votes in an election-coup last year on this date is creating an atmosphere of terror and intimidation by executing prisoners, detaining their lawyers and passing heavy sentences on the prisoners it has kept under harsh conditions.

Bahareh Hedayat is one such prisoner. A student at the university, mother of a young child and a women's rights as well as students' rights activist. Bahareh was sentenced to 2 years for her participation in a peaceful demonstration in June 2006, which was heavily crashed. This sentence was later suspended. Now, she has been sentenced to 9 years which includes that two year suspended sentence as well. She is accused of  'publicity against the regime',  'insulting the president', 'insulting the supreme leader', each carry two years.  

According to Bahareh's husband, her court appearance was postponed three times all on purpose so to pass the sentence near the June anniversary. This gives a resolute message to those who plan to come to the streets to ask once again, 'Where is my vote?'.

Bahareh herself is not as shocked as her family of the heavy verdict for participating in peaceful demonstrations. Her lawyer was not informed of the verdict nor was he permitted to read the file or even receive a copy of the verdict.

On 10 June 2010 the Islamic republic is due to present its last report to the UN Human Rights Commission on Iran's human rights condition. One would wonder how they are going to justify such harsh sentences which is not limited to Bahareh?

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