A former top Iranian police commander appeared in court on Sunday after his arrest reportedly on suspicion of a morality-related crime, the ISNA news agency reported. “A former commander in the police appeared this morning before the 76th branch of the Tehran court and the investigation against him has started,” the student news agency said. Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi confirmed last week that a high-ranking police officer had been arrested, released on bail and put under investigation. “We will announce the accusations against him at a later date as the investigation is still at a preliminary stage,” he said.
But the conservative Internet news site Tabnak reported that the prominent police commander had been arrested “on accusations of immorality”. It said that a very high-ranking Iranian official had instructed judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to treat the former police commander like any other criminal. The name of the commander, who is said to have occupied a top post until his arrest, has not been disclosed. Information has also not emerged inside Iran about the exact nature of his alleged crime. |