The Iranian judiciary announced today that the case against former Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi is still open, and that recently detained actresses Pegah Ahangarani and Marzieh Vafamehr will be released on bail today.
The Mehr news agency cited judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who said the former Tehran prosecutor was still a suspect in connection with crimes committed at Kahrizak Detention Centre.
Previously, Mortazavi had declared he had been acquitted in the case against him. Ejei clarified that at first the court had decided to disallow pursuit of the case; however, a complaint against that verdict returned the case to court once again.
Mortazavi was removed as prosecutor for Tehran after a scandal emerged about the torture and murder of detainees at Kahrizak Detention Centre, causing a public outcry. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later appointed him to head the Task Force Against Smuggling. At least three detainees at Kahrizak were killed under torture during the 2009 crackdown on election protesters. The special parliamentary probe into the case pointed the finger at Mortazavi as the one who ordered the transfer of protesters to Kahrizak.
Mortazavi at first claimed the prisoners were transferred there due to a lack of space at Evin Prison and that the prisoners who died at Kahrizak had died from meningitis.
Two prison guards were later sentenced to death in connection with three torture fatalities at Kahrizak, but the victims’ families did not agree to their execution and instead demanded the prosecution of "those who ordered" the murder of their children.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also discussed the cases against Iranian actresses Pegah Ahangarani and Marzieh Vafamehr. He said they were arrested based on "official reports from security sources, and now that preliminary investigations have been completed, they will be temporarily released."
Last week, officials announced that Ahangarani was in custody, while Marzieh Vafamehr has reportedly been under arrest for one month.
Iran’s Prosecutor General also announced that 54 death sentences have been issued by the judiciary over the past four months, and 45 of them have been carried out.
