An Iranian court has reportedly sentenced President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s press adviser to one year in prison for insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The hard-line website Mashreghnews says Ali Akbar Javanfekr was also “stripped of membership of political parties, groups, associations, and media activities for five years.”

It did not specify how or when Javanfekr, who heads the official IRNA news agency, allegedly insulted Khamenei.

Javanfekr has 20 days to appeal.

In November, Javanfekr received a one-year sentence and was banned from journalism activities for three years on charges of “publishing materials contrary to Islamic norms.”

He has not yet begun to serve the sentence.

The verdicts are seen as part of a power struggle between Ahmadinejad and his opponents ahead of March parliamentary elections.

Source : Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty