Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
A judiciary official has said that the court ruling to execute Iranian businessman billionaire Babak Zanjani has been postponed.
Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri has said that the tycoon will not be executed unless all of the money he owes to the country is paid back, ILNA news agency reported.
According to the official, a large part of money he owes to the country is held abroad, therefore he will not be hanged for as long as the debts are not paid back to the treasury.
Babak Zanjani was arrested in December 2013 after accusations that he withheld billions of oil revenues, channeled through his companies. Zanjani at the time denied the accusations.
Iranian judiciary has previously announced that the 42 year-old businessman was sentenced to death, pronouncing him guilty of fraud and economic crimes.
During the former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s term, Zanjani reportedly played a key role in helping the country to bypass Western-imposed sanctions against Iran restricting the country’s oil exports.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has criticized the death penalty saying the execution of the billionaire will mask the identity of senior officials who supported him.
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