By Mustafa Melih Ahishali
ISTANBUL (AA) - An Iranian court on Monday sentenced eight activists to 72 years in prison for asking the country's supreme leader to resign, local media reported.
The Revolutionary Court in the northeastern city of Mashhad announced jail time for up to 26 years, according to Iran's Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The activists wrote an open letter in 2019 calling on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to resign from his office.
Abdol-Rasoul Mortazavi received 26 years, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri and Fatima Sepehri six, Hashem Khasttr 16 and Mohammad Nourizad 15. Khasttr and Nourizad are also facing a three-year travel ban.
The others will serve a year in prison.
The state of human rights in Iran, where protests and dissent are often met by arbitrary arrests, has been criticized by international activists and groups including Human Rights Watch.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz