Iran jails influential academic for eight years: lawyer

TEHRAN: An Iranian court has sentenced influential sociology professor Saeed Madani Ghahfarokhi to eight years in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Thursday.

Madani, 62, who has published books on topics including prostitution, violence against women, child abuse and drug addiction in Iran, has been in detention since May last year. “My client was sentenced to eight years in prison for forming a hostile group and one year for propaganda against the system,” said his lawyer, Mahmoud Behzadirad, adding the verdict was final.

Madani, a professor at Tehran´s Allameh Tabatabai University, had previously been arrested several times and served a six-year prison sentence from 2011.