Liberal Cleric Jailed After European Trip

Iranian dissident cleric Hassan Yousefi-Ashkevari, a theologian and pro-democracy activist, was arrested hours after he returned from a European trip, the official news agency IRNA reported. He was picked up at home by agents of a powerful clerical court and taken to Tehran’s Evin prison, a source close to the cleric said. The Special Court for Clergy had issued a warrant for his arrest after he voiced his liberal social and political views at a seminar in Germany in April. “He [Yousefi-Ashkevari] is accused of acting against the country’s security . . . and engaging in propaganda against the system,” IRNA quoted prosecutor Mohammad Ibrahim Nekunam as saying.