Tehran: Iranian former vice president
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who has been sentenced to six years in
prison in connection with protests over June's presidential
election, has been released on bail, the official IRNA news
agency reported on Sunday.
Abtahi, who was a close aide of reformist ex-president
Mohammad Khatami, was granted bail pending appeal of the jail
term handed down by the court of first instance, the ISNA news
agency reported.
Under Iranian law, any jail sentence of three months or
more is subject to appeal and a convict can be granted bail
for the 20-day period allowed for one to be lodged.
"Abtahi was released this afternoon after he paid the
bail amount," Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi told
IRNA.
ISNA quoted the head of the revolutionary courts as
saying that bail was set at USD 700,000.
"Abtahi was sentenced to six years in prison for acting
against national security and propaganda activity," the news
agency quoted the courts chief as saying without giving his
name.
The former vice president was among scores of opposition
figures who were arrested shortly after the publication of
official election results giving hardline President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad a second term.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 22, 2009, 21:26