Iran jails man campaigning for women's rights-lawyer

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A court has sentenced a male activist for greater female rights in Iran to one year in prison, his lawyer and a fellow campaigner said on Monday.

Amir Yaghoub-Ali was arrested last year when collecting signatures in a Tehran park in favour of women's rights in the Islamic Republic, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh told Reuters.

The 22-year-old student was sentenced on charges including spreading propaganda against the state, Sotoudeh said, adding she learnt about the verdict on May 25 and it would be appealed.

"According to our constitution ... collecting signatures is not a crime," Sotoudeh said, adding his lawyers also included Iran's 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Campaigners say dozens of women activists have been detained since the so-called One Million Signature Campaign was launched in mid-2006, most of them released after a few days or weeks.

A leading member of the campaign, Parvin Ardalan, said Yaghoub-Ali was the first man to be jailed for collecting signatures. She said two female activists had received six-month suspended jail terms for the same activity.

"They are trying to control us," Ardalan said.

Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi earlier this year said collecting signatures was not a crime, but "making propaganda against the system and disturbing public opinion" was.