Mehdi Khazali Released From Prison

Physician, blogger and publisher Mehdi Khazali was released from prison on Friday, February 17.

“This afternoon. in Taleghani Hospital, in the presence Evin Prison’s president, Khazali was given his notice of release,” Khazali’s lawyer Mostafa Tork Hamedani told the Iranian Students’ News Agency[Persian link]. He also said Khazali was in the hospital to continue his treatment.

Khazali was arrested at his workplace on the afternoon of Sunday, February 5 and was sent to the communal Ward 350 at Evin Prison. He went on a hunger start immediately after arriving at Evin. On February 11, his lawyer reported that he was in a critical condition and had been transferred to a hospital.

Khazali has been detained several times in connection with his writing. During his previous detentions he was on hunger strike for a total of 285 days.

The son of former hardliner member of the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Abu Al-Qassam Khazali, who died in September 2015, Khazali has met with controversy on several occasions. He was critical of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and has routinely criticized conservative politicians. As recently as December 2016, Khazali criticized the Islamic Republic for its role in Syria.

The Guardian Council blocked Khazali’s bid to enter politics formally in 2016, disqualifying him from running for parliament.