Iranian Student Activist Sentenced For 'Abduction'

Ali Kanturi

Iranian student activist Ali Kanturi has been sentenced to 15 years in jail on charges of abduction and extortion, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

Kanturi is a member of the left-leaning student group Freedom And Equality-Seeking Students.

His lawyer, Payam Abutalebi, said the Revolutionary Court initially charged him with acting against national security and sentenced him to 32 months in jail. An appeals court commuted that term to four months.

Abutalebi said the most recent charges brought against his client are "astonishing." He added that he "cannot accept that my client has been accused of such actions."

Abutalebi added that Kanturi denied all the charges during his trial.

His earlier statements while being questioned by intelligence officers have been construed as a confession and used against him, which Aboutalebi claimed is illegal.