Montazeri's son-in-law released from jail
TEHRAN, Dec 30 (AFP) - The son-in-law of dissident cleric Ayatollah
Hossein-Ali Montazeri has been released after spending seven months in
jail, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Hadi Hashemi, a close associate of Montazeri, was set free on Tuesday,
Sobh-e-Emruz daily said without giving more details.
He had been arrested in May for his role in a wave of unrest in Esfahan
and Najafabad, the ayatollah's hometown in central Iran.
The unrest was provoked after the authorities placed Montazeri, once
the designated heir of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, under arrest
for a speech he made in November attacking supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei.
Hashemi's brother, Mehdi, a notorious former member of Iran's Revolutionary
Guards, was executed in 1986, accused of plotting against the Islamic regime.
His execution was followed by Montazeri's ouster as Khomeini's successor
in 1989 and his virtual banishment from politics. On Saturday, the liberal
weekly Aban reported that several allies of Montazeri had been arrested
on orders of a special court which tries offending clerics.
They were reportedly picked up while collecting signatures for Montazeri's
release from house arrest in Qom, a religious city in central Iran.
The 76-year-old cleric angered conservatives by criticizing Khamenei's
strong grip on power and his growing intervention in policy issues, and
by asking for greater powers for moderate President Mohammad Khatami.
