Journalist Said Moghaneli was released from Tabriz Prison on July 21, 2012, after serving approximately six months in detention and prison. He was released early after authorities credited time previously spent in custody toward his sentence.
Said Moghaneli, editor-in-chief of the banned Azeri-language publications Yashmagh and Yarpagh and the banned monthly literary publication Dilmaj, was serving a six-month term in Tabriz Prison, according to reformist news websites.
Moghaneli, a frequent contributor to other Azeri-language magazines and newspapers, was convicted on charges of "propagating against the regime" in his journalistic work and in interviews with foreign media. Moghaneli told his family that was being held in a ward for drug- addicted detainees, news reports said.