Sentence Reduced for Iranian American Scholar Imprisoned in Iran

February 12, 2010, Washington, D.C. – According to a report published by Reuters News Agency on Wednesday, an Iranian appeals court has reduced the prison sentence of Iranian American scholar Kian Tajbaksh’s to five years. Charged with espionage following the disputed June 12th elections in Iran, Tajbakhsh was originally sentenced to twelve years in prison for his alleged crimes. Tajbakhsh’s lawyer, Houshang Azhari, was quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency as stating, “The appeal court sentenced my client…to five years in jail. It was a very good reduction…about two-thirds of the initial sentence.”  

While PAAIA is pleased to hear these positive developments, we are convinced that Mr. Tajbakhsh is innocent of all charges and should be released immediately.