An Iranian court has upheld on appeal a seven-year sentence against a reformist cleric, initially sentenced to death for saying women should be free to decide whether to wear a veil, judicial sources said.
Hojatoleslam Hassan Yussefi Echkevari made his views known on the veil in Berlin in April 2000 during a conference on Islamic reforms, provoking a crisis between moderate President Mohammad Khatami and hardline politicians.
Echkevari's death sentence was never confirmed officially, but his family said it was handed down by a special tribunal that handles crimes by members of the clergy. News of the sentence sparked local and international protests.
Last autumn, Echkevari's sentence was commuted to seven years, of which four were for his views on the veil, one for taking part in the conference and two for spreading "lies" on the murder of several intellectuals in 1998 implicating members of the intelligence ministry.
He was also prohibited from wearing the traditional Iranian clerical robes.
The cleric's son, Mahmoud, confirmed the sentence was upheld on appeal.
"Since my father served 31 months already in prison, he has 53 months left," he added.
Television footage of Echkevari's speech at the Berlin conference angered conservatives, with many calling for the imprisonment or death of reformists.
The most notable recent case has been that of intellectual Hachem Aghajari, sentenced to death in November for publicly calling for "a protestant version of Islam" and that Muslims shouldn't "blindly follow ... religious leaders".