Hadi Ghabel is an Iranian cleric and member of the central council of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front. He was imprisoned on April 7, 2008 to begin a 40-month jail term following prosecution and conviction by the Special Court for the Clergy. The Special Court, charged with investigating other clerics for alleged crimes, has prosecuted clerics who challenge official religious interpretations of the Islamic Republic. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, "the court’s prosecution of religious scholars, based solely on their beliefs and opinions constitutes a form of modern inquisition aimed at rooting out clerics whose beliefs are considered politically threatening."