Iranian activist gets 18 years in prison

A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Tehran revolutionary court, his daughter said Sunday. Abdolfattah Soltani was also banned from exercising his profession for 20 years and he will be sent to a remote prison where it will be difficult for the family to visit him, Maede Soltani told The Associated Press. "It is a harsh and heinous sentence," she said. "The trial was completely politically motivated," added Maede Soltani, who lives in Germany. Soltani, 58, co-founded a human rights group with Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. He was arrested last year and has since been held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. Her father's lawyer was informed of the sentence Sunday, but her family does not know when the court made its ruling, Maede Soltani said. The family will seek to appeal the ruling.