Adnan Hassanpour

The “dean” of Iran’s imprisoned journalists, Adnan Hassanpour was the editor of Asou (Horizon), a now closed weekly, in Marivan, in a western region where most of the population is Kurdish. A Marivan revolutionary court sentenced him to death in 2007 on charges of spying, separatist propaganda and subversive activities against national security. Thanks to his lawyer, and international pressure, the supreme court overturned the death sentence in 2008 after deciding he could not be regarded as mohareb (an enemy of God). When retried, he was finally sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2009. He is in poor health and, according to the latest news, he has been sent to Zahedan prison in the northeastern province of Sistan. So now he is serving a double sentence – imprisonment and exile.