Iran's Supreme Court issued a ruling in full support of former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, overturning an earlier two-year jail sentence, which had found him guilty in connection with the death of a political detainee. His lawyer confirmed the acquittal on Tuesday.

In 2017, the hard-line ex-prosecutor was convicted of "accessory to murder", following a protracted trial in Tehran which ultimately led to his imprisonment. Mortazavi's sentence, which Iran's judiciary reluctantly issued under mounting public pressure, came to a premature end after 17 months, as prison authorities found him to be in "good conduct." Even the incomplete sentence was eased with reported furloughs, rarely granted to other prisoners.  

After his release in 2019, the ex-prosecutor began a fresh legal battle to "restore dignity," invoking an article in Iran's penal law which — in extremely rare situations — requires the judiciary chief to personally intervene and review a certain case.

Expressing relief at the new ruling, Mortazavi's lawyer said it proved the "innocence" of "a prosecutor, whose main concern was merely public security" but had been "put behind bars instead of being glorified."