Iran clears female activist who faced flogging: report

TEHRAN (AFP) An Iranian appeals court has cleared a women's rights activist who was facing a suspended jail term and lashes of the whip on charges of disturbing public order, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Nahid Jafari was sentenced along with three other women by a revolutionary court in April to suspended sentences of six months in prison and 10 lashes for taking part in a protest last year.

But the appeal court has quashed the verdict against Jafari, who was arrested in March 2007 along with 32 other women during a protest against the trial of another five women's rights activists, the Kargozaran newspaper reported.

The fate of the three others sentenced with Jafari is not known.

The five women being tried in March 2007 had been arrested on charges of acting against national security for staging a protest in June 2006 to demand equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.

Iranian authorities arrested a total of about 70 people during the protest, amid claims of police brutality.

Iran has exerted mounting pressure on women's rights advocates, and in recent months several have been arrested for calling for changes to Iranian laws or for taking part in public protests.

The crackdown was stepped up after the launch of a "One Million Signature" campaign which seeks to change Iran's laws that discriminate against women such as legislation on marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.

The campaign, which is backed by Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, was launched after the June 2006 demonstration.

In May, Iran handed down a suspended jail sentence of up to three years against award-winning activist Parvin Ardalan on charges of seeking to harm national security.

Ardalan -- who won Sweden's Olof Palme Prize in 2007 -- is one of the figureheads of the "One Million Signature" campaign.

Activist Hana Abdi, 21, who belongs to a Kurdish women's group and also supports the signature campaign, was jailed for five years in June after she was convicted of plotting to commit a crime against Iranian security.