Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a chief ally and top media advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been sentenced to one year in jail.
The Fars news agency announced that the judiciary has sentenced the director of the state news agency IRNA for insulting the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Javanfekr is also banned from political and media activities for five years.
Previously, Javanfekr was given another one-year jail sentence and a three-year ban from media activities for publishing material that was deemed to be against Islamic principles. His article regarding Islamic dress codes and the hijab for women was criticized by many conservative members of the establishment.
Javanfekr’s sentencing is part of a wave of attacks against Ahmadinejad and his allies, who have fallen out of favour with Ayatollah Khamenei. It began when Ahmadinejad resisted the Supreme Leader’s decision to reinstate Heydar Moslehi as the Intelligence Minister, only hours after the president had accepted the minister’s resignation.
