Journalist Gets the Kafka Treatment

Here is my piece about the Iranian journalist who has been sentenced to 3 years jail in Iran in IPS:

OAKLAND, United States, Apr 5 (IPS) - In a continued effort to suppress reform-minded critics, the Iranian government has sentenced yet another prominent journalist, Ali Farahbakhsh, to three years in jail and slapped him with a huge fine, partly due to a typo in the court documents. Farahbakhsh was convicted of spying in a trial held behind closed doors on Mar. 26. He was first imprisoned five months ago on his return to Iran after participating in a conference on the news media organised by civil society groups in Bangkok, Thailand. His lawyer has appealed the sentence. Farahbakhsh was arrested on Nov. 26 and held in solitary confinement for 40 days, until the Association of Iranian Journalists issued a statement publicly revealing the details of his case. The security forces had pressured his family to remain silent about his arrest, which was only confirmed on Jan. 7 by the director of Tehran's prison department, Sohrabe Soleymani.