Thursday, July 28, 2005

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.