Iran frees reformist editor on bail
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 30 October 2009 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Iran frees reformist editor on bail, 30 October 2009, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4af82ed3a.html [accessed 25 January 2017] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
October 30, 2009
Mohammad Quchani on trial in Tehran in August.
TEHRAN (Reuters) – A pro-reform editor who was detained shortly after Iran's disputed election in June has been freed on bail of 1 billion rials (about $100,000), an Iranian news agency has reported.
Labor news agency ILNA said Mohammad Quchani, editor in chief of "Etemad-e Melli" newspaper, was released from Tehran's Evin jail late on October 29. A reformist website, tagheer.com, said he had spent 131 days in detention.
"Etemad-e Melli," the newspaper of reformist cleric and defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi, was shut down by the authorities in August.
Thousands of people were arrested after the June election, which sparked huge street protests and plunged Iran into political turmoil.
The moderate opposition says the poll was rigged to secure hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's reelection. The authorities deny it.
Most of the detainees have since been released, but more than 100 senior reformers, activists, journalists, and others, have been put on trial accused of fomenting street unrest. The opposition has denounced the court sessions as "show trials."
Several of the accused have received jail sentences and three death sentences have been handed down, according to Iranian media. Under Iranian law, the verdicts can be appealed.
The authorities have portrayed the post-election street demonstrations, which were quelled by the elite Revolutionary Guards and an allied Islamic militia, as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the Islamic republic.
The opposition says more than 70 people were killed in the violence. Officials say the death toll was half that and that members of the security forces were among the victims.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
