TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s judiciary said Tuesday that it commuted a death sentence for a tycoon to 20 years in prison after he returned around $2.1 billion in assets from illegally selling oil abroad, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Babak Zanjani, 48, was sentenced to death in 2016 over a number of charges, including money laundering, forgery and fraud that disrupted the country’s economy.
IRNA quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying that an appeal for amnesty by Zanjani was reviewed and his death sentence was “commuted to a 20-year prison term after approval by the Supreme Leader.“ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all state matters and occasionally issues pardons.
Jahangir said as part of Zanjani’s 2016 sentence, he had the right to an amnesty or commutation of his death sentence if he returned the assets, compensated for damages and expressed regret for wrongdoing. The spokesman said that Zanjani cooperated with the judiciary to locate the assets abroad in recent years while he was in prison, and all the money was returned.
Justin Timberlake set to bring his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour to Australia in 2025
Two French schoolgirls aged six and 11 are stabbed by knifeman near their school
Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but transgender sports rule still on hold
Yu Darvish extends scoreless innings streak to 25 in Padres' 9
Charlie Hanson's auction house is broken into as it prepared to sell Star Wars memorabilia
US committee releases sealed Brazil court orders to Musk's X
Justin Timberlake set to bring his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour to Australia in 2025
A trial is underway for the Panama Papers, a case that changed the country's financial rules
Why US Catholics are planning pilgrimages in communities across the nation
Prabowo Subianto wins 2024 Indonesian presidential election