Two Charged in Iranian Journalist's Death

By: Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer (AP) A judge has charged two Iranian intelligence agents with involvement in the death of a photojournalist from Canada, who died while in custody last month, Tehran's prosecutor's office said Monday.

Judge Javad Esmaeili called Zahra Kazemi's death a "semi-premeditated murder," according to a statement read to The Associated Press by a prosecution official.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official refused to disclose the exact charge against the two or provide their names.

An Intelligence Ministry official criticized the charges, calling the claims that the agents, both interrogators, were involved in the July 10 death "sheer lies," Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

The Intelligence Ministry intended to release details surrounding Kazemi's death soon, the official added. The agency did not provide the official's name.

The charges against the agents are expected to intensify the fierce power struggle between President Mohammad Khatami and his reformist allies, whose control over the Intelligence Ministry has long been curbed by hard-liners who have been blamed for Kazemi's death.

Kazemi, 54, a Canadian-Iranian, died nearly three weeks after being detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during student-led protests. After 77 hours of interrogation, she was rushed to an intensive care unit in a hospital controlled by hard-line Revolutionary Guards, where she died 14 days later.

Her death was condemned inside and outside Iran, particularly in Canada, which withdrew its ambassador after Kazemi was buried last month in her birthplace, the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, against the wishes of Canadian authorities and her son, who lives in Montreal.

In a statement issued by Tehran's prosecutor's office, Esmaeili said two Intelligence Ministry agents have been indicted "on charges of involvement in the semi-premeditated murder" of Kazemi. Esmaeili was appointed July 25 to lead a new inquiry into Kazemi's death.

IRNA quoted an inspector at the Tehran Criminal Court as saying the two officials were being detained.

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told reporters July 30 that Kazemi was murdered by a blow to her head that caused a brain hemorrhage.