Court acquits man in photojournalist's death

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A Tehran court acquitted the sole defendant in the murder of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist, the lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate representing the victim's mother told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Shirin Ebadi, who is the chief lawyer for the mother of slain photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, said the legal proceedings were flawed.
"I'm required to work until my last breath to make sure that justice is done to my client," Ebadi said.
She threatened to take the matter to international organizations if the Iranian judiciary fails to carry out justice. "I'll protest this verdict. If the appeals court and other legal stages fail to heed our objections, we will use all domestic and international facilities to meet the legal rights of my client," an angry Ebadi said.
Kazemi, a Canadian free-lance journalist of Iranian origin, died July 10, 2003, while in detention for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during student-led protests against the ruling theocracy.
Iranian authorities initially said Kazemi died of a stroke, but a presidential committee later found she died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage.
The agent charged with murdering Kazemi, Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, pleaded innocent July 17 and the trial was abruptly ended the next day.
Hard-liners were angered when the defense team led by Ebadi accused prison official Mohammad Bakhshi of inflicting the fatal blow to Kazemi and the conservative judiciary of illegally detaining her.