Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The office of Iran 's ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013) has announced that the former president is determined to defend arrested former vice president Hamid Baghaei until the end.
Baghaei who served as vice president for Executive Affairs during Ahmadinejad's presidency was arrested on June 8. No details were published so far on his charges and the arrest reason.
Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said June 9 that that when it took office, the administration of President Hassan Rouhani disclosed to the judiciary documents indicating illegal actions by the administration of Ahmadinejad.
Refusing to comment on the arrest, Nobakht said the government tries not to make such events public, but the judiciary has the authority to handle the cases as it deems fit.
Meanwhile the Ahmadinejad office statement refers to Baghaei as an honest and "clean hand" person, who served the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic, Iran 's Fars news agency reported June 11.
Ahmadinejad will firmly defend Baghaei's legitimacy and honesty as an ethical and humanitarian duty, according to the statement.
Iran's judiciary is responsible and must protect Baghaei's life, the statement reads, adding the officials should provide opportunity for him to use his appropriate legal and citizenship rights.
In 2011, a court banned Baghaei, who is one of Ahmadinejad's closest confidants, from working for the government for four years. Baghaei was previously convicted of various legal violations committed when he was the head of the Organization for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, but he ignored that verdict.
Baghaei is not the first Ahmadinejad administration official to face legal action. In January, former vice-president Mohammad Reza Rahimi was jailed for five years and ordered to pay $1.3 million in connection with a money laundering and embezzlement scheme worth billions of dollars.
Edited by CN
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