Former Vice President Sentenced to Suspended Jail for Libel

Date: 19 November 2023 - 21:47

News ID: ۱۲۱۶۵۶

TEHRAN -- Iran’s former vice president under Hassan Rouhani has been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for “false accusations” against Parliament speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

The court’s recent verdict sentenced Es’hagh Jahangiri to “four months of imprisonment for defamation and eight months for spreading falsehoods,” but considering Jahangiri’s legal position, the prison term was commuted to a cash fine of 440 million rials.

The sentence, based on a complaint filed by Ghalibaf, is preliminary and subject to appeal.

Earlier this year, Muhammad Saeed Ahadian, the political and media assistant to the parliament speaker, referred to Ghalibaf’s complaint against Jahangiri in a tweet, explaining that “Ghalibaf had filed a complaint in 2017 due to false statements made by Jahangiri.”

Simultaneously, media reports

claimed that Ghalibaf’s complaint against Jahangiri was related to the debates during the presidential elections in 2017. Ghalibaf, one of the two main principlist candidates, targeted the Rouhani administration in his sharp attacks. The heated exchanges between Ghalibaf and Jahangiri led to intense debates.

Both Jahangiri and Ghalibaf withdrew in favor of their respective main faction candidates at the end of the debates. Ghalibaf supported President Ebrahim Raisi, while Jahangiri cast his vote in favor of Rouhani.