Prominent Iranian Dissident Cleric Ahmad Ghabel Dies

Ahmad Ghabel

Iranian religious scholar and political dissident Ahmad Ghabel has died at the age of 58.

Ghabel’s family told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Ghabel died on October 22 in the northeastern city of Mashad after being in a coma for six days.

Ghabel began serving a 20-month prison sentence in July 2011 for spreading propaganda against the regime and insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was released from prison and transferred to a hospital in the summer to have surgery on a brain tumor.

Ghabel was a follower of the late dissident cleric Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri.

He had been detained a number of times before 2011, including in 2009 when he was on his way to Montazeri's funeral.