ran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television
ran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television after casting his ballot in the Iranian presidential election in Tehran June 12, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

Hossein Derakhshan was released by Iran after he had spent six year in jail. The Iranian-Canadian blogger was arrested in Tehran in 2008.

Derakhshan's arrest in 2008 took place after he had been suspected of spying for Israel. He was sentenced 19-year imprisonment after he had been convicted of insulting Islam, co-operating with enemy powers and spreading propaganda. Derakhshan, nicknamed as Iran's "blogfather," is credited for being the pioneer of Iran's blogging revolution as he published several blogs in Farsi on how to write blogs, BBC reported. He moved to Canada in 2000 after pursuing a career in journalism. He started writing critical blogging against the Iranian government during his Toronto days. He even visited Israel with his Canadian passport. His visits to Israel in 2006 was hugely publicised as Israel was considered to be the arch-rival of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Derakhshan, on the other hand, claimed that his intention was to develop amicable relations between the countries.

Over the years, Derakhshan wrote less critical blogs against the Iranian government. He returned to Iran in 2008 as a part of his self-imposed exile. Within a couple of weeks of his comeback, he was detained. He faced grave charges of treason which included "conspiring with hostile governments, spreading propaganda against the Islamic system, spreading propaganda in favour of counter-revolutionary groups, blasphemy, and creating and managing obscene websites." However, local media reports suggest that the Supreme Leader of the country - Ali Khamenei - apparently forgave Derakhshan, which caused his release. However, no official reason was given for the release of the blogger.

According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Derakhshan was not behind the bars in the last two years of his six-year sentence. However, he was not allowed to leave Iran and was supposed to report regularly to Iranian authorities. Executive director Hadi Ghaemi said that Derakhshan would now be allowed to leave the country and travel internationally. He said that Derakhshan would not have to report to Iranian authorities any more, The Globe And Mail reported. Derakhshan thanked God and Ayatollah Khamenei for his "freedom" after six years.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au