Rafsanjani’s Son Appears In Court

Tehran, Aug 3, IRNA - Mehdi Hashemi, son of the former president Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, appeared in a court on Saturday in Tehran to respond to charges filed against him in connection with the events following the 2009 presidential election. The hearing was held in Tehranˈs Revolutionary Court behind closed doors. Hashemi, who released on bail after three months of imprisonment in December 2012, was also accused of corruption and violating the country’s security. Hashemi denied the accusations. He was arrested upon his arrival in Tehran from the UK, where he lived for three years. Hashemi’s lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, told reporters that he was not informed that Saturdayˈs hearing was about financial charges or those linked to the 2009 post-election protests. In 2009, after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was reelected as the president for the second term, the defeated candidates protested the move, which later resulted in protests in several cities, in particular, Tehran./end