Iran defends acquittal of agent alleged in killing Iranian-Canadian photojournalist

Published July 25th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

A Tehran court acquitted the sole defendant in the murder of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist, it was revealed on Saturday.

Commenting on the acquittal of the Iranian agent alleged to be responsible for the death of Zahra Kazemi in July 2003, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Sunday the government has been of the opinion from the very beginning that he was not the guilty person and the court reached the same conclusion, IRNA reported.

Kazemi was arrested in June last year while illegally taking pictures from Evin Prison in Tehran during a period of unreset. She was brought to the Information Ministry for interrogation after her arrest. Days later, she complained of being unwell and was taken to hospital where she died, the cause stated to be a stroke. An autopsy conducted on her revealed the cause of her death was brain

hemorrhage.

On possible links between Iraqi Kurds and Israel, the foreign ministry spokesman said the Israeli regime is reportedly plotting the destruction Islam. "If such a report is correct, it would be regrettable," he conveyed. (albawaba.com)