Posted on 03/18/2006 5:06:35 AM PST by nuconvert
Iran Releases Dissident Reporter From Jail
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writers
Iran's most senior dissident journalist was freed after completing a six-year prison sentence, his lawyer said Saturday.
Akbar Ganji was jailed in 2000 after reporting on murders of five dissidents by Intelligence Ministry agents and became a hero to the country's reformists for standing up to hard-line clerics.
Many world leaders, including President Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, called for Ganji's release because of his deteriorating health, but Iran's hard-line authorities rejected the demands. Ganji spent most of his jail term in solitary confinement and was on hunger strike for months.
"Ganji was freed late Friday after spending about six years in jail," his lawyer Yousef Mowlaei told The Associated Press.
A statement by Iran's judiciary said Ganji was freed on leave for Nowruz, the Persian New Year holiday, which begins Tuesday. The holiday runs until April 3, and the statement said his prison sentence officially ends March 30, so it appeared unlikely Ganji would be taken back into custody.
Ganji, 46, was sentenced to six years in prison on charges that the articles he wrote violated the law and insulted the authorities.
Ganji came to prominence after his investigation of the 1998 murders of five dissidents by Intelligence Ministry agents.
The Intelligence Ministry blamed the murders on "rogue agents" within the secret service. But Ganji's articles in the newspapers Sobh-e-Emrouz, Khordad and Fath said the killings were ordered by senior hard-liners in the ruling Islamic establishment, including former hard-line Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian. Fallahian has denied any involvement.
Ganji's imprisonment coincided with a massive media crackdown by hard-liners against the reformist press when former President Mohammad Khatami's reformist agenda was threatening the power of the unelected hard-liners.
Iran's hard-line judiciary has closed down more than 100 pro-democracy publications in the past five years, including the papers Ganji wrote for, on vague charges of insulting religious sanctities and top clerics.
In his writings, Ganji said Iran needs to stop granting absolute rule to a top cleric, currently supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.
From another article....
""My views have not changed at all. Jail and pressures never forced me to change my views. Today, I'm more determined to say what I said six years ago," said Ganji, who was on hunger strike for about three months last year and was in solitary confinement for most of his time in prison.
"My imprisonment was unjust and will remain a great injustice forever," he said, drawing applause from his audience."
"Ganji was sentenced to six years prison in 2000 after reporting on murders of five dissidents by Intelligence Ministry agents and became a hero to the country's reformists for standing up to hard-line clerics.
Ganji's wife, Masoumeh Shafiei, was worried about the toll prison had taken on the health of her husband, but she appeared delighted by his return as she handed out sweet drinks to their guests.
"My husband is so weak physically now. He is just 49 kilograms. But I'm happy he is back home," she said. Some of his friends initially had difficulty recognizing him because of the change in his appearance""
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/03/18/1494173-ap.html
PONG
Ganji: Norooz Mobarak!
Pong
Good news indeed!
:-) Terrific news.
That's news. He's finally out.
ping
I hope they don't re-arrest him in a week or 2.
Actually, there was a translated article from 'Iran News Press' on March 12, 2006, posted on Doc Zin's blog saying this:
Akbar Ganji's Release from Prison Denied -
"The regime's judiciary has decided to rescind Akbar Ganji's release from prison. Sources close to Ahmadinejad's site FARDA (named as such in order to confuse people with Radio Farda which is the Persian Broadcast of Radio Free Europe) have reported that Ganji who was slated to be released from prison for having served his 6-year term, on March 15th, was denied his acquittal. The source refused to give any more details."
http://regimechangeiran.blogspot.com/2006_03_12_regimechangeiran_archive.html
Anything is possible. There have been conflicting stories about his release for some time now.
Lets hope he is actually released and won't be re-arrested and jailed again.
I saw that article the other day. But this sounds for real since they actually have a picture of him, a quote from his wife, and reporters described the scene inside his home.
I think the regime was trying to release him quietly, so they first floated the story we read the other day about not releasing him.
Thanks for the ping!
Thank God he is free. I hope he can get his full health back because he is certainly needed in Iran.
bttt
Great news!
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