August 13, 2004

Iranian Professor Freed From Prison

By RICHARD MONASTERSKY

A dissident Iranian professor was released from prison July 31, ending a two-year-long struggle with a conservative regional court that had twice sentenced him to death.

Hashem Aghajari, a history professor at Tarbiat Modarres University, in Tehran, was freed after paying a bail of $122,500, the Associated Press reported. The bail was required because Mr. Aghajari had served only two years in prison and had not completed his full sentence.

The professor had upset hard-liners in