Ganji may be pardoned: Judiciary chief TEHRAN, July 20 (MNA) -- Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi said here on Wednesday that imprisoned Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji may be pardoned.

“We are currently studying to see whether public amnesties can be applied to his case or not,” Shahrudi told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

“If he has a right with regard to law, he will be released,” he added.

President Mohammad Khatami “asked me to study the situation and I did so. There have been good works done on Ganji’s case,” Shahrudi said as carried by AFP.

Asked if Ganji would be kept in prison after the end of his current sentence, the Judiciary chief said, “There is no pending case against him. Ganji’s case is resolved. He has broken his hunger strike and is currently on medication in hospital.”

Shahrudi also warned against the pointless manipulation of public opinion by raising certain issues.

Akbar Ganji is serving a six-year prison sentence on a battery of charges, most notably his controversial allegations about the “serial murders” of Iranian intellectuals in the 1990s, which were later blamed on rogue intelligence agents.

AV/HL/HG

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MNA

Publish date,Tehran: 2005/07/20, 19:42

© 2003 Mehr News Agency