Iran's former deputy interior minister, Mostafa Tajzadeh, has been sentenced to pay a one million rial ($574,000)cash fine after a court convicted him of "slander" connected to student unrest in southwestern Iran last year, reported the official Iranian news agency (IRNA) on Tuesday.
The agency quoted his lawyer, Amir Hossein-Abadi, as saying his client had been cleared of "involvement in the unrest" and "stirring up the state security in the courtroom."
He also told IRNA he would, in the coming days, appeal the ruling.
The unrest in Khorramabad erupted last August after two progressive lecturers, Abdulkarim Soroush and Mohsen Kadivar, were prevented by unknown groups from addressing students attending a conference organized by the biggest Iranian pro-reform student group, Office to Foster Unity.
The incident turned into days of clashes between police and people, leaving one policeman dead.
Tajzadeh, a close ally of President Mohammad Khatami, was the interior ministry official charged with overseeing the upcoming presidential elections on June 8.
He was initially sentenced in March to a year in prison on charges of vote-rigging in last year's parliamentary elections, in which reformists ousted the conservative majority in the legislature.
He was convicted of "complicity in electoral fraud," and also allegedly refused to carry out a "recount mission" ordered by the oversight Guardian Council – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
