TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said Wednesday that a former vice president has been sentenced to 63 years in prison over misuse of public funds while in office.
The sentence against Hamid Baghaei is the longest for a former official in Iran in decades. Tehran’s Justice Department says the verdict was reached on Tuesday.
Baghaei was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s vice president in charge of executive affairs. He was briefly detained in 2015, and his trial on corruption charges began later that year but he wasn’t in custody.
In May, Baghaei applied to run for president but was rejected. He has 20 days to appeal.
The verdict comes against the backdrop of frequent criticism by Ahmadinejad and his allies against the judiciary.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Ahmadinejad on Tuesday called Iran’s chief justice, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, “incompetent.”
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
