Ganji Might be Released, says Rafsanjani

Khaleej Times Online:

The head of Iran’s Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, announced on Thursday that Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji might be released. ISNA news agency quoted Rafsanjani as saying that he has contacted judiciary chief Mahmoud Hashemi-Sharoudi and asked him to resolve the tragic dilemma of the dissident.

“I presented some proposals and the problem will, God willing, be solved,” Rafsanjani said. READ MORE

Rafsanjani is the second high-ranking official after President Mohammad Khatami to have asked the judiciary chief to enable Ganji’s release.

Ganji has been on a hunger strike for 48 consecutive days in protest at the judiciary’s refusal to release him unconditionally before his six-year jail term ends next year.

One of the charges against Ganji was that he linked Rafsanjani to the 1998 assassination of dissidents.

Another charge against the 48-year-old was “disgracing” Iran in front of “counter-revolutionaries” at a controversial conference held in the year 2000 in Berlin.