Former Iranian president's daughter sentenced to five years in prison

Tehran: Activist Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was sentenced to five years in prison.

Her lawyer did not reveal what charges were against the 60-year-old. The former lawmaker and women’s rights activist was charged with “collusion against national security, propaganda against the Islamic Republic and disturbing public order by participating in illegal gatherings, said her lawyer. Defence lawyer Neda Shams tweeted: "Following the arrest of Ms. Faezeh Hashemi, she was sentenced to five years in prison but the sentence is not final. We will appeal it within the time frame allowed by law."

The public prosecutor indicted Hashemi last year on charges of "propaganda against the system." In September 2022, state media reported that Hashemi has been arrested for inciting riots in the capital during protests triggered by the custodial death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. Demonstrators at the time posed one of the biggest challenges to Iran's clerical rules since the 1979 revolution.

She was sentenced to jail for six months in 2012 for "anti-state propaganda". She was banned from political activities for actions dating back to the 2009 disputed presidential election.

Her father was one of the founders of the Islamic Republic but his pragmatic policies of economic liberalisation and better relations with the West earned many critics during his life. He died in 2017.