AFP: A top Iranian reformist from a banned political party was released on bail by the authorities on Thursday, two weeks after he was arrested, an opposition website reported.
TEHRAN (AFP) — A top Iranian reformist from a banned political party was released on bail by the authorities on Thursday, two weeks after he was arrested, an opposition website reported.
The report did not specify how much bail Ali Shakouri-rad had to pay to secure his release.
Shakouri-rad, a leader from the Islamic Iran Participation Front and former member of parliament, was arrested on October 13 for what Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi had said were “security reasons.”
But opposition website Rahesabz said his arrest was provoked by his criticism of Iran’s public prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie.
Shakouri-rad is also known for his outspoken criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.
Iran has banned two reformist parties — the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organisation — which backed main opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the June 2009 presidential election.
Several high-ranking members of both parties were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms in a major government crackdown on reformists, political activists and journalists following the disputed vote which gave Ahmadinejad a landslide victory.
The two parties were accused of undermining national security.
