Ahmad Montazeri's Prison Sentence Suspended

Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was sentenced to six years in prison for releasing an audio tape related to the 1988 executions, confirmed in an interview with Radio Farda that this sentence has now been suspended. Ahmad Montazeri visited the Special Clerical Court in Qom on Saturday morning, March 5, after his leave ended, where he was informed that the sentence was suspended. According to a message on the Telegram channel of Ayatollah Montazeri's family, the suspension was due to 'the objections of many dear ones, including prominent religious authorities.' The audio file related to Ahmad Montazeri's conviction concerns a meeting on August 15, 1988, between Hossein Ali Montazeri, then deputy to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and several high-ranking judicial and security officials of the Islamic Republic at the time. In this audio file, Ayatollah Montazeri described the August 1988 executions as a crime, stating: 'The greatest crime committed in the Islamic Republic, which condemns our history, was carried out by you.' After its release on August 10, 2016, the audio was removed from Ayatollah Montazeri's website at the request of the Ministry of Intelligence, but Ahmad Montazeri was sentenced to 21 years in prison for releasing it after several summonses to the Special Clerical Court. Ahmad Montazeri was arrested on Wednesday, February 22, 2017, without a 'formal summons' and was released the next day under the title of 'eight-day leave.' Zahra Rabani Amelishi, Ahmad Montazeri's wife, stated that Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, was 'opposed' to the execution of her husband's prison sentence, while Ebrahim Raisi, as the prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court, insisted on enforcing the sentence. On Tuesday, March 1, she told the 'International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran' that the Ministry of Intelligence under Hassan Rouhani's government was also 'opposed' to the execution of Ahmad Montazeri's prison sentence.