Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
July 28, 2009

Iran to Release 140 Post-Election Detainees
-------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=259DB26:A6F02AD83191E160BBB71B352CB6805598CBE7246176B735&
 
In other news, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders
closure of jail where some political prisoners are believed to be held 
A member of Iran's parliament says about 140 people detained in the
country's post-election unrest will be released from prison Tuesday.
Lawmaker Kazem Jalali told Iranian media that those detainees face minor
charges and will be released on bail. He made the remarks after members
of a special parliamentary committee that is investigating post-election
detentions visited Tehran's notorious Evin prison. Many people detained
in the post-election protests are believed to be in this facility. As of
Monday, Iranian officials said 300 people rounded up in the
post-election protests remained jailed. Lawmaker Jalali said the roughly
150 people who will remain in prison face more serious charges than
those being released on bail. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei (file)Iranian media reported Monday that the nation's judiciary
chief ordered officials to decide within a week whether reformist
detainees should remain jailed or be released. In other news, Iran's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered the closure of a
jail where some political prisoners are believed to be held. Officials
Tuesday said he ordered Tehran's Kahrizak detention center to be closed
because the jail does not meet the necessary conditions to preserve the
rights of detainees. It is not clear how many detainees are in the jail,
whether they were arrested in the post-election protests, or whether
they will be released or transferred to other prisons. Political
activists, journalists and others were arrested as part of a crackdown
on protests that stemmed from the June 12 re-election of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The political opposition alleges fraud, but Iranian
authorities say the vote was fair. 

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.


.