10 years in prison for Iranian Foreign Ministry employee on espionage charges
A spokesman for Iran's judiciary announced on Sunday that an employee of the Iranian Foreign Ministry has been sentenced to ten years in prison and a fine of $270,000 on charges of espionage.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said in his press conference that Kamal Amirbey, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was sentenced to ten years in prison in the first instance court, and this sentence was also confirmed in the appeals court.
The judiciary spokesman did not provide further details about the individual's charges or his background and position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, some news outlets have reported that he has a history of working in Iranian embassies in Turkey and Venezuela.
At the same time, Bahram Ghasemi, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the news of this individual's conviction was "not a new issue." According to Ghasemi, Kamal Amirbey was "arrested in 2015 and convicted in early 2016," and "later that year, he received a reduction in some of his sentences in the appeals court."
Nearly a year ago, Abdolrasoul Dori Esfahani, a member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, was sentenced to five years in prison by the judiciary. The court charged him with espionage, but the Ministry of Intelligence announced that, according to the ministry’s experts, Dori Esfahani was not a spy. Dori Esfahani holds dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship.
Last month, Ejei also announced the conviction of a dual citizen named “Tavakoli” on espionage charges. Without elaborating on the individual’s background or activities, he said that Tavakoli’s sentence had been finalized and he had been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. Ejei said that the individual’s assets, worth $48,000, had also been confiscated.
The spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran's judiciary said that these individuals "usually work for both America and Israel."
Source: Voice of America
